The trial of two brothers charged with abducting their 17-year-old sister from a restaurant in Kirkland began at the Montreal courthouse on Tuesday.
The brothers, ages 25 and 26, are alleged to have touched off an Amber Alert after the victim, who is now 19, was grabbed on July 26, 2021, while she was working at B12 Burger on St-Charles Blvd., part of a strip mall next to a Super C grocery store. She was forced into a vehicle that drove away.
When the case was in the bail hearing stage in 2021, a judge imposed a publication ban on the identities of the three men accused in the case, to protect the identity of the victim.
The trial at the Montreal courthouse, before Quebec Court Judge Thierry Nadon, began with both brothers pleading not guilty to charges like kidnapping, forcible confinement, assault and uttering threats.
In another courtroom on Tuesday, the other accused, a 25-year-old Pierrefonds resident, pleaded guilty to one count of forcible confinement. In a statement of facts entered into the court record, the man said he was waiting outside in a Nissan Altima while the brothers abducted their sister.
According to the statement of facts: “As captured by the surveillance cameras of the establishment, a few seconds later, the victim is seen being physically transported by one of the (brothers) into the accused’s car. She is placed in the backseat of the vehicle by her brother, who also takes the backseat.
“The victim and her brother are then dropped off by the accused near the residence of the victim’s father, where they are reunited by the other (brother) as well as the victim’s mother.”
Later the same night, one of the brothers asked the getaway driver to bring his mother to a hospital. The statement of facts indicates the girl’s mother was aware of what had happened.
“Before leaving to the hospital, and after some discussion between (one of the brothers), the victim’s mother and (the driver), it was agreed that it would be better for the victim to spend the night at (the driver’s) place, in the company of (the driver’s) parents and his sister, whom the victim knew.”
The sentencing stage of the getaway driver’s case will begin at a later date.
Gilles Mailhot, a detective with the Montreal police, was the first witness called to testify in the trial of the two brothers.
He said that shortly after he was assigned to take charge of the investigation, the getaway driver brought the victim to a police station in the West Island. This was shortly after the Amber Alert was issued. The driver was arrested on the spot.
A video of what happened inside the restaurant was shown in court on Tuesday while Mailhot explained the images that were captured.
“The victim was on the floor,” Mailhot said at one point, describing how the girl struggled.
The trial is expected to take four days to complete.