Rosaire Girard - iconic hotel owner killed the wrong guy

 Rosaire Giarrd was briefly iconic in Chicoutimi, a few hours drive north of every other Quebec town of significance and is known for its blueberries and its favorable ratio of eligible women to men.  

Rosaire Girard found fame after a shooting event in his hotel Du Pont on 25 July  1975. The hotel on Bosse Street is better known as the Hotel du Parc which it had been called both before and after Girard's tenure. 

It also had a gay bar in the place for  a while that opened early that year, the first one in the region, daniel billeneuve's aply named "Gaie-Bar."

Girard was at home at 1 am on that fateful morning when his phone rang with a call from his son, informing him that three young men who had been banned from the place were back and causing trouble. 

The younger Girard ordered the rowdies out but they rebelled by knocking over a pool table. Girard called police but they were unable to send an officer, as they were all out helping a Canadian Air Force emergency search.. 

The trio of rowdy adolescents were known to frequent the Banana Split Bar, considered the worst dump in Chicoutimi during that time. They showed up a second time at Girard's Hotel du Pont tavern and behaved in a belligerent fashion and then returned a third time, this time with another pal. 

Police had still not arrived and by their third visit and by now Girard senior had entered the club where he was toting a 303 caliber rifle pointed at the floor."Shoot you dirty dog, you don't have the balls," one of the youths taunted Girard.

In the heat of the action Rosaire Girard raised his rifle, and discharged a bullet, shattering a  window which was emblazoned with a poster for a wrestling match. 

The bullet hit another customer who was not involved in any way in the conflict. Carol Jean, a man, died instantly with a bullet to the heart. 

Police finally showed up and arrested Rosaire, and a prosecutor charged him with murder.

Girard's impending fate was the talk of Chicoutimi in August and September 1975 as residents wondered if he'd end up in prison for life.  Defense attorney Louis Charles Fournier argued that Girardt acted in legitimate defense and after all the evidence, including a coroner's report and witness testimony was in, judge mercier gave a  90 minute discourse clearing Girard of all charges, saying that any jury would have done the same.Girard was a free man and his name was cleared. 

Girard remained head of the local merchants association and two men, including the brother of the man shot dead, were found guilty of threatening Girard’s family after the shooting.