About 3:40 a.m. on July 13, 1978, Mr. Bellemare was found dead behind the wheel of his cab in the Hochelaga neighbourhood of Montreal. He was 25 years old. Mr. Bellemare had evidently turned onto Rue Prefontaine, a narrow one-way street running west up a hill from Rue Hochelaga, when he was shot five times in the head and neck. The shots were fired by someone sitting beside him on the front passenger seat. The taxi either reversed or rolled back down the hill, swinging crosswise to the street and colliding with another car parked on the south side in front of 2552 Prefontaine.

Diagram of the Jean Bellemare murder scene. (Source: Québec, Ministère de la Justice. Rapport et Verdict du Coroner, dossier 1562-78: Jean Bellemare).