Two men charged with the first degree murder of a foreign national in Stoneham

Almost three months after the nebulous murder of the Moroccan national Ashraf Thimoumi, whose body was found in a hidden car in Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury, two men from Lac-Saint-Jean were charged with first degree murder.

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Keven Prévost-Bouchard, 35, from Albanel, was already detained for a crime associated with another firearm story when he was charged with first degree murder in this case. He appeared directly from the Roberval detention center. The second suspect, Éric Guénette, 34, from Normandin, was arrested on Wednesday and faces the same charge, the most serious in the Criminal Code.

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The murder would be related to the world of narcotics, according to the provincial police force, which did not give further details on this subject.

The 20-year-old foreign national from Morocco, Achraf Thimoumi, was found dead, shot dead, on Chemin des Familles in Stoneham on August 8.

His body had been concealed in a car, hidden away from view. A teenager returning from a bike ride discovered the bloodied victim. According to witnesses, several shots were heard during the night.

The body of Mr. Thimoumi was repatriated to Morocco on August 16. He had emigrated to Canada in 2019 to pursue studies.

Heavy criminal past

Keven Prévost-Bouchard had been arrested with other accomplices at the beginning of September on charges of robbery with the use of a prohibited weapon, death threat, and use (with discharge) of a firearm. fire with criminal intent.

Prévost-Bouchard then went to a chalet with the victim’s son with a 9mm pistol for reasons that could not be specified, but a bullet was fired during an altercation without causing any injuries. The 9 mm had been seized from the accused, and a sawed-off .12 caliber rifle had also been found.

He returned Monday for his bail hearing, but the judge took the case under advisement. The man, who has more than 50 criminal records since 2012, said he wanted to get out of the criminal world to take care of his children.

As for Éric Guénette, he seemed very disturbed during the appearance. The one who appeared by videoconference cried during the short hearing and wiped his eyes.

In 2007, he was guilty of breaking and entering with intent, fraud, theft and driving while impaired. After serving his 12-month sentence – and before his appearance on Thursday – he had never set foot in a courthouse.

By law, both men are automatically detained unless they apply for a release hearing. The DPCP prosecutor M^e Matthieu Rochette indicated that the next appearance in court of the two men, scheduled for December 5, would serve to complete the disclosure of evidence.

Relief

The North African community of Montreal, which had been shocked by the violent death of the victim at such a young age, received the news of the arrests with relief.

“We are very relieved to learn that finally, we [a pu] arrest people who have a link with this murder, that this murder will not remain unsolved like many others in the past”, indicates the journalist Rachid Najahi, who had helped the family of Achraf Thimoumi to repatriate the body to Morocco.

The link between the crime and narcotics, put forward by the investigators, is however surprising.

« In his immediate entourage, among his friends, no one was aware » that the victim could have been involved in this kind of affair, underlines Mr. Najahi, who operates the information site for the Maghreb community Atlas Media.

This twist will no doubt bring some comfort to the family of the deceased, in search of answers.

« We hope the truth will come out, that’s all, » her big sister Oumayma Thimoumi confided to the Log a few days after the tragedy. She then said that she had no reason to believe that people could have wished harm to her brother.

– With the collaboration of Jérémy Bernier and Dominique Lelièvre