Quebec cold case murder trial: Prosecutors complete evidence, defence granted delay

Guylaine Potvin, shown in a police handout photo, was found dead in her apartment in Jonquière, Que., on April 28, 2000. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Surete du Quebec

Crown prosecutors have finished making their case against a Quebec man charged with the first-degree murder and sexual assault of 19-year-old junior college student Guylaine Potvin nearly 24 years ago.

Prosecutor Pierre-Alexandre Bernard told jurors today the Crown has completed presenting evidence in the case of Marc-André Grenon after testimony from forensic biologist Caroline Paquet.

Quebec Superior Court Justice François Huot then granted a delay to Grenon's lawyers, who will announce Monday whether they will present a defence.

The trial has heard that officers arrested the accused in 2022 after a research tool used by the province's forensics lab suggested the previously unidentified DNA from the crime scene might be connected to the last name Grenon.

Paquet has testified that DNA samples obtained from Grenon matched those taken from several places at the crime scene in April 2000, including under Potvin's fingernails, on a T-shirt she was wearing and on a box of condoms.

Grenon, 49, who has pleaded not guilty, was charged after DNA on two drinking straws he had discarded at a movie theatre allegedly matched with crime scene evidence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2024.

This is a corrected story. A previous version had the wrong year for when DNA samples were collected at the crime scene.