Trial starts in Montreal cold case after judge dismisses request to stay proceedings

A Quebec man accused of killing a young woman in the 1990s, but was only arrested for the alleged crime in 2023, has lost his bid to throw out the case.

A Quebec man accused of killing a young woman in the 1990s, but arrested in 2023, has lost his bid to throw out the case.

A judge on Monday rejected a motion for a stay of proceedings filed by Serge Audette, who is accused in the killing of 23-year-old Patricia Ferguson, a Montreal mother who vanished in 1996.

• Montreal police reopen cold case after outside investigators uncover ‘new, important facts’

Audette, 72, filed the motion last November at the Montreal courthouse, alleging that the police used “disproportionate methods” to obtain evidence that led to him being charged with manslaughter. Two investigators testified last year to defend their actions.

With the motion now dismissed, the accused’s trial started Monday morning and heard from the first witness, Ferguson’s daughter, Sabrina Ferguson, who is now 30.

Sabrina told the court about the effects of her mother’s disappearance on her childhood, which she says was filled with unanswered questions. She said she learned that her mom disappeared when she was just one year old and that at age three she was adopted by her great-aunts.

She was told, “One evening, she left and never came back,” the court heard during her emotional testimony.

“I really wanted to know if she had abandoned me as a baby or if something had happened to her and she couldn’t come back.”

She later learned from a documentary that her mother was likely a victim of a crime.

Audette’s arrest follows a lengthy investigation by a local private investigator working with the Unsolved Murders and Missing Cases of Quebec, with the involvement of documentary filmmaker and Noovo Info anchor Marie-Christine Bergeron.

Their production, “L’appartement 5,” on Crave triggered Montreal police to reopen their investigation into Ferguson’s death, using the information from their findings to gather information to trace and arrest Audette.

The second witness to take the stand on Monday was Audette’s neighbour, who also happened to spend time with Ferguson right before she disappeared. The witness told court that Ferguson brought her daughter over and, at one point, Ferguson went to the man’s apartment.

She came back during the night but ended up leaving without her daughter. The next day, the witness met with police because Ferguson hadn’t come back.

The Crown says it has about two weeks’ worth of evidence to present at the trial, which continues Tuesday.

With files from Noovo Info

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