Retired Quebec judge Jacques Delisle, who pleaded guilty in wife’s death, dies at 89

MONTREAL — Jacques Delisle, a retired Quebec judge who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in his wife’s shooting death, has died at age 89.

The Court of Appeal of Quebec issued a statement Monday confirming the death of Delisle, who had presided on the province’s highest court from 1992 until he retired in 2009.

Delisle spent nearly nine years in prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder and handed a life sentence in the 2009 shooting death of his wife, Marie Nicole Rainville.

However, he was released in 2021 after the federal justice minister concluded a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in the case, and Delisle was ordered to be put on trial again.

The retired judge pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March, avoiding a second trial, with his lawyer telling the court his client did not shoot Rainville but caused her death by leaving a loaded gun next to her, at her request.

The Superior Court sentenced Delisle to eight years and 311 days in prison — all but one of which he had previously served after his 2012 conviction — and the retired judge walked free after spending a few hours in detention.

Defence lawyer Jacques Larochelle told the court in March that Rainville had been struggling from the effects of a stroke that left her partly paralyzed and that she had a broken hip that robbed her of her independence and her ability to enjoy life.

During his trial, the Crown argued that Delisle had shot his wife to avoid a costly divorce and that he had wanted to move in with his former secretary, with whom he was having an affair.

In its statement on Delisle’s death, the Court of Appeal says the “renowned jurist” was always a strong advocate for the French language in legal writing, adding that the quality of his decisions “attested to his genuine commitment to the law.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press