A judge heard closing arguments Friday in the trial of Serge Audette, the man accused of manslaughter in the death of Patricia Ferguson in Pointe-aux-Trembles in 1996. The cold case into the young mother’s death was only reopened after a Noovo Info documentary series raised questions about the original police investigation. On Friday, Audette’s defence lawyer, Kristina Markovic, told the judge that there could be reasonable doubt regarding his guilt in the death of the 23-year-old woman, citing frail memories and a lack of concrete evidence, Noovo Info reported. Markovic told the court that she believed the passage of time “weakens the evidence” since the witness’s memories may have been altered since the 1990s, “which affects their reliability.” She also argued that there were several contradictions in the witness testimony during the trial, which started on Jan. 19. She also called into question the testimony of Audette’s cellmate — who claimed to have received a confession from the accused — to be unreliable and the lack of “physical evidence.” The Crown reaffirmed its theory that Audette killed Feguson, citing similar crimes he committed in the past. While Audette remained, for the most part, stoic during the trial, he appeared to be irritated on Friday when the Crown suggested he could have easily strangled Ferguson to death, given his stature. Audette’s trial went ahead last January after a judge denied his request to grant a motion for a stay of proceedings, alleging that the police used “disproportionate methods” to obtain evidence that led to him being charged with manslaughter. During the trial, the judge heard testimony from Ferguson’s daughter, Sabrina Ferguson, and the accused’s former cellmate, a key witness. His identity is protected by a publication ban. When Ferguson went missing in 1996, her disappearance barely made the news, and the case faded from memory. Things took a turn in 2022, however, when Montreal police reopened the case following information gathered from a private investigator and Noovo Info journalist Marie-Christine Bergeron. Their findings were featured in a true-crime documentary on Crave called “L’appartement 5.” After the documentary aired, Montreal police sent a team back to Pointe-aux-Trembles to look for clues. On June 12, 2023, police announced they arrested Audette, who was charged with manslaughter. Audette has a long criminal history, having been declared a dangerous offender in connection with several sexual assaults committed primarily in the 1980s and 1990s. With files from Noovo Info CTV News and Crave are owned by Bell Media, a division of BCE
