Mario Drolet, 22 years old, was a taxi driver in Rouyn-Noranda, 632 km (395 miles) northwest of Montréal. At about 9 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, April 6, 1991, a passerby discovered Mr. Drolet's cab stopped on Des Chalets road in Lac Joannes, about 30 km east of Rouyn-Noranda. The police arrived a few minutes later and found Mr. Drolet's body inside the cab. He had been shot from behind by a large-calibre weapon. The bullet had gone through his head and smashed the windshield. The company owner described Mr. Drolet as a very quiet man who never caused any trouble. Contrary to procedure he had not informed the dispatcher that he was leaving Rouyn-Noranda, raising the possibility that he was taken hostage by a passenger. The murder followed another violent incident on Friday when the general manager of the local Canadian Tire store was shot and seriously wounded by a masked bandit. In June the Sûreté du Québec raided several residences in Rouyn-Noranda, arresting five men and three women and seizing a .22 gun and several sticks of dynamite.

Rouyn-Noranda is 632 km (395 miles) northwest of Montréal. (Source: Google Maps. ) The women and one man were released, but the remaining four men were held for questioning in the death of Mr. Drolet.