La Presse, April 29, 1920, p. 1

THE SHREW’S HUSBAND IS GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER

JUSTICE DESY HOPES THAT THE VERDICT DELIVERED AGAINST THE WRETCHED FATHER THAT GAGNON WAS WILL SERVE AS A WARNING FOR OTHER POTENTIALLY BRUTAL PARENTS

Sentencing will take place in about ten days.

MISUNDERSTANDING AT THE ASSIZES

What happened in Court when the verdict was delivered.

THE JUDGE’S REMARKS

(From the correspondent of La PRESSE)
Quebec City, 29-As we announced in yesterday’s special edition, Télesphore Gagnon has been found guilty of manslaughter. This brutal father was accused of murdering his own little daughter, ten-year-old Aurore, the child martyr of Ste. Philomène. The second wife of the defendant, the cruel stepmother Marie-Anne Houde, was found guilty of murdering the child and has been sentenced to hang next Friday, October 1.

Gagnon will not share the fate of his unhappy wife, since his accusation of murder was put aside by the jury, which began deliberations yesterday afternoon, as soon as the Honourable Justice Désy had finished his long, impressive and eloquent address.

IN ABOUT TEN DAYS

(Special to La PRESSE)
Quebec City, 29-Télesphore Gagnon, found guilty of manslaughter, did not receive his sentence this morning as had been expected. The Honourable Justice Désy will sentence the brutal father to his punishment in about ten days, when he leaves for Trois-Rivières.

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON’S SESSION

After the Honourable Justice Désy delivered his address, which ended at 1:30 yesterday afternoon, the Court was adjourned until 3 p.m. The jurors went to eat lunch together, and they must have deliberated as they ate, because when they returned to the Court House at 2:15, they informed the judge that they were ready to deliver their verdict. The judge then had them come into the courtroom, which was already packed with curious onlookers.

THE STANDARD QUESTION

The court clerk, Monsieur Alphonse Pouliot, asked the jury the standard question:

"Gentlemen of the jury, do you agree on the verdict that you are about to render in the case of the King versus Télesphore Gagnon?"
"Yes," replied all the jurors.
"Who will speak on your behalf?"

One of the French-speaking jurors, Monsieur Xavier Simard, stated that he would speak on behalf of the others.

“What is your verdict?”

Monsieur Simard, the spokesman for the others, replied:

"Guilty, with a recommendation of clemency from the Court.”

The clerk then asked the question

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THE SHREW’S HUSBAND IS GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER

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in English and Monsieur John Reed, the only one of the two English-speaking jurors who did not understand French, replied:
"Manslaughter."

A MISUNDERSTANDING

The judge then remarked that there seemed to be a misunderstanding. He explained again to the jurors that they had to choose between three verdicts: murder, manslaughter, or not guilty. He asked the jurors to retire and to return with a unanimous verdict.

Three or four minutes later, the jurors returned and their foreman, Monsieur Xavier Simard, replied to the clerk’s question:
"Manslaughter."

Monsieur Simard explained that, when they returned the first time with their verdict, the jurors were all in agreement, but that they had simply mistaken the terms.

In summary, all the jurors hold Télesphore Gagnon responsible for the death of his daughter, but they do not want to see him hanged.

The same mistake occurred, Monsieur Pouliot, the court clerk, tells us, some ten years ago, in the trial of Dickson.

THE JUDGE’S REMARKS

The Honourable Justice Désy then stated that he would pronounce sentence the next day. He thanked the jury for their attention to the trial and he congratulated them on the verdict they had rendered.

He said that the law sought to punish only the guilty. The punishment that he would pronounce against the accused would serve as a lesson for those who might be tempted to behave in the same way as the accused. He was sure that the prisoner regretted with all his heart the wrongs that he had committed towards his daughter. By accepting his sentence with courage and in the spirit of true contrition and repentance, he would ensure that his little martyred daughter, Aurore Gagnon, who is in Heaven, has already forgiven him all the harm she suffered at his hands during her life here on earth.

The judge expressed the hope that the verdict that had just been rendered would serve as a lesson for parents who punish their children in the odious way that Télesphore Gagnon had punished his unhappy child. The sentence that he intends to impose on the guilty man will be fair, simply fair.