The family of the victim in a gruesome stabbing spoke out Wednesday as the jury ended its second day of deliberations.
“Every day we find ourselves completely exhausted,” said Nathalie Beaulieu, mother 20-year-old Clemence Beaulieu-Patry, killed last year as she worked inside a Maxi grocery store in Montreal.
Randy Tshilumba is charged with the first-degree murder in the case.
Beaulieu said the six-week trial has taken a toll as the family has to relieve the nightmare of her daughter’s murder.
“Her gratuitous, violent murder was painful, and we spent a year grieving her. Now we’re going through it again with the trial,” she said.
"The loss in a gratuitous, violent manner such as this--I went to the store to pick her up after work when I didn't hear from her, it was a big shock--it's been a lengthy mourning, and the legal process brings us back," said Beaulieu.
The family had to remain low-key in front of the jury. “There is no room for the victim,” said Beaulieu. “The jury doesn’t even know what my daughter looked like.”
The Crown says that Tshilumba was obsessed with his victim and had gone to see her at the store on multiple occasions.
When he returned on April 10, 2016 he killed her, just before she was set to finish her shift.
“I went to the store to pick her up after work when I didn't hear from her, it was a big shock,” said Beaulieu.
After the attack, Tshilumba spent hours hiding inside a bathroom at a nearby restaurant, and the next day searched the internet for tips on disposing of a murder weapon.
Tshilumba has not disputed the physical acts of the case, with his defence team admitting her stabbed the Beaulieu-Patry 14 times.
He contends, however, that he was mentally unwell at the time of the killing and believed that Beauleau-Patry had been stalking him.
Two psychiatrists testified on his behalf, with one saying that Tshilumba was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the killing. The Crown did not present a psychiatrist to contradict their testimony.
Beaulieu said she doesn’t believe the defence.
“He clearly wanted to kill her,” she said.
The jury is being tasked with determining whether or not Tshilumba knew the difference between right and wrong at the time of the attack. If they decide he was of sane mind, they will then have to determine whether it was a premeditated murder or manslaughter.