Fernand Pelletier, 51, was married and the father of three grown children aged between 21 and 26 years. He had driven for Taxi-Coop in Loretteville since 1976. At about 8:15 p.m. on Monday, January 12, 1993 he had finished his shift but decided to accept one last call. He drove to 38 Domaine des Sources in Loretteville where he picked up two boys aged 15 and 16. The juveniles had called a taxi to the address from a nearby convenience store and then waited outside number 38, intending to kill the driver as soon as he arrived. The ambush failed when Mr. Pelletier drove up from the wrong direction. The killers changed their plan and climbed into the cab, directing Mr. Pelletier to the Saint-Émile city hall. On the previous night the two killers had tried to ambush a pizza delivery driver, but this attempt failed when the pizza restaurant telephoned the false address to confirm the delivery. The killers were armed with a .22 calibre pistol which they had stolen from the home of a relative. Earlier in the day the 15-year-old had replaced the cylinder with another one capable of firing magnum ammunition. As soon as Mr. Pelletier came to a stop in the city hall parking lot the 15-year-old fired two shots into his neck. The killers then fled, leaving the car with its engine running and the signal lights flashing. For some reason Mr. Pelletier was carrying several thousand dollars. The killers got away with $2,000 but left most of the money behind. The meter, which was still running, registered $22 when the taxi was discovered. Since the fare from Domaine des Sources would normally be seven dollars police were able to estimate the time of Mr. Pelletier's death as about 8:30 p.m. The residents of 38 Domaine des Sources were unable to provide any useful information, but police soon received tips from a local high school. A boy had reportedly shown a revolver to fellow students and bragged about his intention to shoot someone. Three days after the murder police arrested the two suspects and charged three other teens, including a 14-year-old girl, with complicity after the fact (they had helped hide the money and the murder weapon). A week later a sixth teen was charged with obstruction of justice after he reportedly threatened other students against talking to the police. [Next column]

The community was in a state of shock. Neither of the killers had a prior criminal record and neither was seen as a troublemaker. The revelation that several students had known about the gun but had not told parents or teachers was also a disturbing. Meanwhile Mr. Pelletier's funeral was held on January 16. About 300 cab drivers from Loretteville and other centres attended. When the suspects came to trial the Crown prosecutor argued to have them tried in adult court. In March, 1993 the Crown dropped this request in the case of the 15-year-old when he agreed to plead guilty to a charge of premeditated murder. He was tried in juvenile court and given the maximum sentence of five years less time served. He was released on parole in January, 1996. The 16-year-old was blamed for inciting the 15-year-old to shoot Mr. Pelletier (in his defence he claimed that he thought the 15-year-old was a "bigmouth" who wouldn't have the nerve to pull the trigger). The 16-year-old appealed the transfer of his case to adult court but lost. In 1994 he was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after five years. During the sentencing hearing the judge was told of his hard, unemotional behavior, his distrust of his teachers in the Tilly youth centre and his unwillingness to admit to wrongdoing unless confronted with evidence. In one instance he had asked a fellow inmate who was going out on a two-day pass to buy him drugs. He complained of being badly treated because he was not allowed to attend parties. Other, younger inmates looked on him as a "king" or a "god" because of the murder, although he did not seem to cultivate this kind of celebrity. Psychiatrists told the court that in order to make him amenable to therapy he should not be paroled until he had served five years. It was important to disabuse him of his hope of gaining a conditional release before three years.