Léopold Dion
Encyclopedia
Léopold Dion was a Canadian sex offender
and serial killer
who was active in Quebec in the 1960s. He was nicknamed the “Monster of Pont-Rouge”.
His first sexual assault
, which also involved an attempted murder
, was against a young woman from Pont-Rouge. Léopold Dion and his brother rape
d and stabbed the woman on the railway track linking the Rang Petit-Capsa (a street) to the village of Pont-Rouge. They left her for dead, but she survived, albeit with both physical and psychological injuries.
21 boys, killing four. He lured his victims by posing as a photographer.
His first murder
victim was 12-year-old Guy Luckenuck, in Quebec City that day for piano lessons. Dion lured the boy by taking a series of snapshots with an old camera that had no film before claiming to want to continue elsewhere. He drove the boy into the country, where, in a remote spot, Dion then strangled him, and then buried him.
On 5 May 1963, Dion crossed paths with eight-year-old Alain Carrier and 10-year-old Michel Morel. He used the same ploy to lure them into his car, driving them to a run-down building in Saint-Raymond-de-Portneuf. With Alain, he pretended to play prisoner so that he could tie the boy up in the cottage. Once the younger boy had been overcome, Dion turned to the older one, Michel, whom he led outside, whereupon he asked the child to take his clothes off. Dion then strangled him with a garrote, before going back inside and smothering the other boy.
On 26 May 1963, he met 13-year-old Pierre Marquis, who was also taken in by the fake photographer’s promises. They were a couple of paces from a dune, the same one that had become Guy Luckenuck’s grave a bit more than a month earlier. Once again, Dion asked his victim to pose naked. The child complied, but when Dion tried to assault him, he fought back before giving in and getting strangled.
Dion, who was then on conditional release for raping a schoolteacher several years earlier, was arrested the day after his last murder. It was a description of Dion from another boy whom he had waylaid, but who had got away from him, that led to the police apprehending Dion. Once in prison, Dion held out for a month before he finally admitted his crimes to his interrogators, in detail. He then led investigators to the spot where he had buried the children's bodies.
Defended as he was by criminal lawyer Guy Bertrand, Dion was, in the end, charged with only one murder, Pierre Marquis’s, for lack of evidence in the other cases. On 10 April 1964, Judge Gérard Lacroix sentenced him to be hanged
.
The death sentence
was commuted to life imprisonment
by then Governor General of Canada
Georges Vanier
after Bertrand's appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada
in the matter had failed. On 17 November 1972, Dion was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate named Normand “Lawrence d'Arabie” Champagne, who was later found not guilty of this crime by reason of insanity.
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
and serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who was active in Quebec in the 1960s. He was nicknamed the “Monster of Pont-Rouge”.
His first sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
, which also involved an attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
, was against a young woman from Pont-Rouge. Léopold Dion and his brother rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d and stabbed the woman on the railway track linking the Rang Petit-Capsa (a street) to the village of Pont-Rouge. They left her for dead, but she survived, albeit with both physical and psychological injuries.
Biography
Dion sexually abusedChild sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
21 boys, killing four. He lured his victims by posing as a photographer.
His first murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
victim was 12-year-old Guy Luckenuck, in Quebec City that day for piano lessons. Dion lured the boy by taking a series of snapshots with an old camera that had no film before claiming to want to continue elsewhere. He drove the boy into the country, where, in a remote spot, Dion then strangled him, and then buried him.
On 5 May 1963, Dion crossed paths with eight-year-old Alain Carrier and 10-year-old Michel Morel. He used the same ploy to lure them into his car, driving them to a run-down building in Saint-Raymond-de-Portneuf. With Alain, he pretended to play prisoner so that he could tie the boy up in the cottage. Once the younger boy had been overcome, Dion turned to the older one, Michel, whom he led outside, whereupon he asked the child to take his clothes off. Dion then strangled him with a garrote, before going back inside and smothering the other boy.
On 26 May 1963, he met 13-year-old Pierre Marquis, who was also taken in by the fake photographer’s promises. They were a couple of paces from a dune, the same one that had become Guy Luckenuck’s grave a bit more than a month earlier. Once again, Dion asked his victim to pose naked. The child complied, but when Dion tried to assault him, he fought back before giving in and getting strangled.
Dion, who was then on conditional release for raping a schoolteacher several years earlier, was arrested the day after his last murder. It was a description of Dion from another boy whom he had waylaid, but who had got away from him, that led to the police apprehending Dion. Once in prison, Dion held out for a month before he finally admitted his crimes to his interrogators, in detail. He then led investigators to the spot where he had buried the children's bodies.
Defended as he was by criminal lawyer Guy Bertrand, Dion was, in the end, charged with only one murder, Pierre Marquis’s, for lack of evidence in the other cases. On 10 April 1964, Judge Gérard Lacroix sentenced him to be hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
.
The death sentence
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
was commuted to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
by then Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Georges Vanier
Georges Vanier
Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since Canadian Confederation....
after Bertrand's appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
in the matter had failed. On 17 November 1972, Dion was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate named Normand “Lawrence d'Arabie” Champagne, who was later found not guilty of this crime by reason of insanity.