Montreal police and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested a man in Philadelphia for a 2017 murder that is being retried. François Ducakis, 31,was the subject of an arrest warrant for the shooting death of a 31-year-old man on Aug. 29 of that year in the entryway of his Montreal North apartment building, according to a Montreal police (SPVM) news release. “The investigation revealed that two suspects were waiting for the victim outside. One of the suspects fired at the victim, fatally wounding him,” the SPVM said. It was the 16th homicide in 2017. He was located in the Philadelphia area on Tuesday, and taken into custody pending extradition proceedings. The U.S. Marshals Service Philadelphia branch said that he was hiding on Race Street with an associate. Ducakis and Willy Junior St-Jean were found guilty of manslaughter in a 2020 jury trial. In 2025, however, the Court of Appeals ruled that they would have to stand trial for first-degree murder. Ducakis, a U.S. citizen, was released after serving his manslaughter sentence and returned to the States, making him a fugitive from the law, as he is required to stand trial for the more serious charge. Junior St-Jean, 39, is in prison for another crime. The two men’s retrial has yet to be scheduled.
