THUNDER BAY – A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the killing of a loved 64-year-old father and grandfather, an act a judge labelled as a “senseless tragedy.”
Chauncey Grover, who pleaded guilty last December in the August 2014 homicide of Leslie Perrault, was sentenced Friday at the Thunder Bay Courthouse.
Justice Dino DiGiuseppe accepted a joint submission from Crown prosecutor David MacKenzie and defence lawyer David Young, which will see Grover spend an additional six years and five months in a federal penitentiary after factoring in credit for pre-sentence custody.
Grover is also subject to a lifetime weapons prohibition and has been ordered to submit a DNA sample. He is also to not have any contact with members of Perrault’s family while serving his sentence.
According to the agreed statement of facts, Perrault’s body was found in the basement apartment of a Machar Avenue home on the night of Aug. 24, 2014 amidst a tightly wound pile of blankets on a couch.
The cause of death, which is believed to have happened on Aug. 18, was determined to be multiple stab wounds to the neck.
A common-law couple, Grover and Alyssa Jourdain, lived in the upstairs apartment and were the only tenants in the home.
They were both arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the days immediately following the discovery of the body.
Grover initially informed police investigators he stabbed Perrault because the man was sexually assaulting Jourdain, but instead told inmates at the Thunder Bay District Jail he stabbed the victim over a dispute for money.
Grover and Jourdain then stole Perrault’s bank card, using his personal identification number to drain $10,000 from his account, which was reportedly spent on alcohol and drugs.
Six victim impact statements were submitted to the court from Perrault’s daughters and his brother. They outlined how he, a former residential school student, overcame those challenges and eventually earned a master’s degree in social work.
When reading his reasons, DiGuiseppe said it was clear the widely loved Perrault “was and remains an inspiration” to family and friends.
“He was always there to support us financially. Emotionally he was always there,” daughter Stephanie Perrault said. “A lot of his traits he passed on to us.”
She added their mother was also murdered in Thunder Bay, with her death nearly 30 years ago remaining unsolved.
Now, with the death of her father, she doesn’t feel safe in Thunder Bay.
“We’re not very happy it didn’t go to trial. It’s really difficult for us,” she said. “We are happy there was justice. Just not enough.”
Jourdain, who also pleaded guilty to manslaughter in February, awaits sentence after MacKenzie and her lawyer, David Bruzzese, were unable to come to an agreement.
Mackenize is urging DiGuiseppe to consider a four-year sentence for the 45-year-old, asserting she made efforts to hide Perrault’s body and loot his bank account.
Bruzzese argued she was an accessory after the fact rather than an accomplice, requesting a sentence that would be offset by time already served. Jourdain had spent 18 months behind bars before being released on bail in March.
Her lawyer said putting her back in prison would be “counterproductive” to efforts she has made to turn her life around and would not be in the public interest.
A date to impose sentence is to be set on June 27.
