CANADA,
PROVINCE OF QUEBEC,
City of Québec.
SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE PEACE.
(Preliminary Inquiry)
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Examination of VITALINE LEBOEUF, wife of Télesphore Badaud, of the parish of St.Philomène de Fortierville, ----
taken under oath on this twenty-fifth---- day of February,------in the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and twenty,------------------in the City of Quebec, in the aforesaid district, before the undersigned, Judge of the Sessions of the Peace, in and for the City of Quebec, in the presence of the accused, Télesphore Gagnon:-
Examined by Maître Arthur Fitzpatrick, Crown Prosecutor:-
Q. Are you related to the accused?
A. I'm not related.
Q. Do you know the accused, Madame Badaud?
A. Yes, Monsieur; I know him well.
Q. Has he spoken to you about his child, Aurore?
A. I was at the home of one of my boys, and Télesphore Gagnon was there, it was last fall, and he told me: "I have a stubborn little girl and I don't know what to do with her." In reply, I said: "Poor Télesphore, why don't you bring her to Quebec City? She'll do well with the nuns. The nuns will keep her in hand; don't worry."
Q. What was the name of the young girl?
A. I don't remember.
Q. Did you know the young girl who died?
A. I knew her, but I've never been there.
Q. Was he talking about the girl who died?
A. Yes, Monsieur. After that, he said that he had beaten her enough, staying on her, and I said: "Poor Télesphore, you could very well kill her, beating her like that, a little girl like that." I said: "Télesphore, when you beat her like that, you beat her, your little girl, like a man would beat a dog." After that, he told me: "She told me that she was going to get the best of me, but, if she tries that, she will come down mighty quick."
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Q. Did he say what he beat her with?
A. I didn't ask him. I didn't know that things would turn out this way. If I had known, I would have talked to someone.
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Cross-examined by the Honourable J. N. Francoeur, K.C., on behalf of the Accused: —
Q. That was last fall, Madame Badaud?
A. Yes, Monsieur.
Q. Around what time?
A. Well…
Q. Was it in October?
A. It was in late fall, a little before the young girl ended up in the hospital. They were saying, at the time, that it was young boys who had beaten her.
Q. Was it before she went to the hospital?
A. Yes, Monsieur.
Q. Did she go in August?
A. Well, somewhere around that time.
Q. Were there many people at your son's when he said that?
A. There was only the family. They had come to build a foundation.
Q. Was there anyone else there, other than family members?
A. Monsieur Couture was there, but he said that he didn't pay attention.
Q. You talked a fair amount about this with Monsieur Couture. I would like to know, Madame Badaud, when this conversation that you are telling us about took place, who was in the house?
A. Only family members. The wife was making supper. She didn't pay attention.
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Q. Your son was there also?
A. Yes, Monsieur.
Q. Is your son here now? Is he a witness, Jimmy Badaud?
A. But he didn't hear; I was near Télesphore.
Q. So you would have been the only one to hear?
A. I answered Télesphore about that…
Q. Did he not tell you that he had already sent her off to the nuns?
A. I know that the girls have all been to the nuns.
Q. They have already spent two years with the nuns?
A. Yes, Monsieur.
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Source: ANQ, TP12, S1, SS1, SSS1, 1960-01-357605, 3C 030 03-07-001B-01, Cour des sessions de la paix, matières criminelles, greffe de Québec, Déposition de Vitaline Leboeuf, enquête préliminaire de Télesphore Gagnon, February 25, 1920, 3.