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| Lepage. aged 49, in 2005 |
The short-haired woman sat with celebrity actor Julien Bessette, 52, and his longtime lover of 30 years, Germain Derome, 55, a funeral home employee.
At 10:30 p.m. that night, Monday 28 April, 1981, she walked into the bathroom of the couple's home at 1725 Alfred in Brossard and returned with a raised .22 caliber pistol.
"Are you crazy!?" Bessette screamed as he leaped to the floor, taking cover behind a wooden chair.
Lepage took aim at Derome and shot him twice, killing him.
She then shot the couple's German shepherd. Her fourth shot narrowly missed Bessette, as he hid behind a chair.
Lepage then ran out. Police combed the area but could find no trace of the woman.
Nobody could conceive of any reason that the woman would have taken aim at Derome, who was remembered as an affable and gentle person who led the employees union at the Darche funeral home in Longueuil.
Neighbour Madeleine Gauthier said that she had dropped in to visit a day prior and said the couple was in fine form, without a care in the world.
Survivor Bessette, 52, was familiar to TV viewers for his many roles, which at that time included a role as a priest in a TV drama Terre Humaine.
Police combed the area and issued a composite sketch but their investigations came to naught.
Bessette died not knowing who killed his lover, as he succumbed to throat cancer in 1999 at the age of 69.
Police had, however, kept an important piece of evidence that would prove useful, in the form of a glass taken from the crime scene.
In 2002 police ran the fingerprints into a databank and found that they matched Christine Lepage, who had been previously charged with shoplifting and fraud.
The RCMP set up a Mr. Big-style sting which led Lepage to confess to the murder to an undercover agent in a downtown hotel in 2002.
Lepage, thinking she was talking to a legit criminal, said that her boyfriend at the time encouraged her to commit the murder.
Her confession was secretly videotaped and was used against her at her trial.
Lepage pleaded innocent and claimed that she had boasted of the killing only to impress the fake kingpin.
She admitted that she had been at the the Derome-Bessette home but said it was because Derome had hired her as an escort to provide sexual services.
She claimed that she had been unarmed and the two men were still alive when she left.
This excuse seemed unlikely as both men were known to be homosexuals.
Twenty-four years after the killing, Lepage was found guilty in early 2005 and sentenced to life in prison, 25 years.
She will be eligible for parole in early 2020, at the age of 65.
And while many Quebec women have killed for various reasons, Lepage appears to have been the only woman known to have acted as a contract killer.
Unless Lepage finally confesses and reveals who hired her to kill Derome and why, the murder will forever remain a mystery.
At 10:30 p.m. that night, Monday 28 April, 1981, she walked into the bathroom of the couple's home at 1725 Alfred in Brossard and returned with a raised .22 caliber pistol.
"Are you crazy!?" Bessette screamed as he leaped to the floor, taking cover behind a wooden chair.
Lepage took aim at Derome and shot him twice, killing him.
She then shot the couple's German shepherd. Her fourth shot narrowly missed Bessette, as he hid behind a chair.
Lepage then ran out. Police combed the area but could find no trace of the woman.
Nobody could conceive of any reason that the woman would have taken aim at Derome, who was remembered as an affable and gentle person who led the employees union at the Darche funeral home in Longueuil.
Neighbour Madeleine Gauthier said that she had dropped in to visit a day prior and said the couple was in fine form, without a care in the world.
Survivor Bessette, 52, was familiar to TV viewers for his many roles, which at that time included a role as a priest in a TV drama Terre Humaine.
Police combed the area and issued a composite sketch but their investigations came to naught.
Bessette died not knowing who killed his lover, as he succumbed to throat cancer in 1999 at the age of 69.
Police had, however, kept an important piece of evidence that would prove useful, in the form of a glass taken from the crime scene.
In 2002 police ran the fingerprints into a databank and found that they matched Christine Lepage, who had been previously charged with shoplifting and fraud.
The RCMP set up a Mr. Big-style sting which led Lepage to confess to the murder to an undercover agent in a downtown hotel in 2002.
Lepage, thinking she was talking to a legit criminal, said that her boyfriend at the time encouraged her to commit the murder.
Her confession was secretly videotaped and was used against her at her trial.
Lepage pleaded innocent and claimed that she had boasted of the killing only to impress the fake kingpin.
She admitted that she had been at the the Derome-Bessette home but said it was because Derome had hired her as an escort to provide sexual services.
She claimed that she had been unarmed and the two men were still alive when she left.
This excuse seemed unlikely as both men were known to be homosexuals.
Twenty-four years after the killing, Lepage was found guilty in early 2005 and sentenced to life in prison, 25 years.
She will be eligible for parole in early 2020, at the age of 65.
And while many Quebec women have killed for various reasons, Lepage appears to have been the only woman known to have acted as a contract killer.
Unless Lepage finally confesses and reveals who hired her to kill Derome and why, the murder will forever remain a mystery.
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| Christine Lepage, escort and assassin, now in prison for life |
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| Germain Derome, 55, killed in brossard in 1981 |
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| Julien Bessette, the victim's lover, narrowly escaped gunfire. He is seen here in his role as a priest on a popular TV show from the period. |
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