Canadian Taxi Driver Homicides: Hector Brideau Previous page    Next page • Driver Profiles

Hector Brideau

Montréal, Québec / April 23, 1984


At 3:42 a.m. on April 23, 1984 a resident of Wilson Ave. in Notre Dame de Grace district reported that a car had struck several parked vehicles.

Police arrived just before 4 a.m. and found Diamond Taxi driver Hector Brideau slumped over the steering wheel of his car. He had been shot once in the back of the head, although the wound was not discovered until after he was transported to hospital. His cab collided with five other cars before coming to a stop.

Jean-Paul Lesage, Assistant Director of Diamond Taxi, said of Mr. Brideau "we never had a complaint about him. He was always calm and correct, a decent guy, not the type to get into trouble."

Fellow driver Edward Marsman described him as "a really nice man, quiet and easy-going, always talking about his family."

Mr. Brideau, 52, was the father of two small boys aged five years and eight months. He had driven a cab since 1955. "I'm sure he would have given his money away if the guy had asked for it," said his widow.

"I'm not in touch with reality right now, but I know I'll break down soon. We were very happy together, as few couples are. Every day we'd ask ourselves, Can it really be that we are this happy?"

Hector Brideau. (Source: Montréal Gazette, April 24, 1984, p. A3)