Montreal woman’s killer found guilty of murder for second time

The parents of the 20-year-old girl who was stabbed to death in a Maxi supermarket in 2016 are speaking out.

Clemence Beaulieu-Patry’s killer was found guilty of murder for the second time on Monday and her parents are convinced it was femicide.

On April 10, 2016, the young woman’s shift was scheduled to end at 8:00 p.m., but half an hour later, while she was folding T-shirts, she was walked in on by Randy Tshilumba and stabbed 14 times at the Maxi on Cremazie Boulevard.

“We miss her every day,” said her mother, Nathalie Beaulieu. “Time has not yet healed the suffering we feel.”

Tshilumba was found guilty in 2017 but appealed the verdict, arguing he was not criminally responsible for the crime due to his mental illness.

Beaulieu-Patry’s parents say it was devastating to have to relive the details of what happened a second time.

“When I see that knife again, I get the chills,” said Beaulieu.

In the most recent trial, the prosecution had new evidence showing that Tshilumba had written on his phone to create a convincing alibi for police.

The Public Prosecution Service also showed that he had searched the Instagram profiles of Beaulieu-Patry and her friends.

The prosecutor argued that the actions were evidence that the crime was premeditated.

Furthermore, the Public Prosecution Service stated that Beaulieu-Patry had rejected Tshilumba’s advances a few days before the murder.

“Once we realized he didn’t know her well, that she wasn’t a friend, we knew it was a femicide,” Beaulieu said.

According to the United Nations Women definition, femicide is ‘an intentional killing with a gender-related motive’. It could also be motivated by ‘discrimination against women and girls’.

Beaulieu-Patry’s parents say they have learned to live on. In court on Monday, they realized that Tshilumba’s family is also suffering.

“After eight years, I felt more for his family, especially his two sisters,” her mother said. “They seem like nice young girls.”

Tshilumba, now 27, has been convicted of premeditated murder, which automatically carries a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

It’s a moment Beaulieu-Patry’s parents have been waiting for years.