Woman testifies about date she had with man charged in McGill Ghetto stabbing death

Montreal Gazette

17-06-2025

Montreal Crime
By
A woman who went out on one date with François Pelletier, just days before he killed Romane Bonnier in the McGill Ghetto, made it clear on Tuesday she was not comfortable with being called as a witness for the defence in the accused's first-degree murder trial.
'Is there a middleman who can ask me the questions,' the 32-year-old woman said after she took the witness stand in the case where Pelletier is acting as his own lawyer.
Pelletier has been allowed to pose questions to certain witnesses during his trial, in particular witnesses who might not be traumatized by having to exchange with a man accused of first-degree murder. He was allowed to ask the 32-year-old woman questions because they only went out on one date and she turned Pelletier down on his request to get together a second time.
She confirmed to the jury hearing the trial that she met Pelletier through a dating app and that they 'probably' exchanged text messages between Oct. 6 and Oct. 19, 2021, the same day Bonnier was killed. Pelletier has admitted to the jury several times that he killed Bonnier.
On Tuesday, Superior Court Justice François Dadour reminded the jury that the key question in the trial involves Pelletier's state of mind when he killed the woman he was in a brief relationship with.
Pelletier has told the jury that he suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder and that his 'baseline' delusions became more intense after Bonnier told him she wanted to see other men while also sharing an apartment with him. He told the jury that he killed Bonnier so 'Romane could stay Romane' and not be influenced by something he refers to as 'the Black Mirror society,' a reference to a sci-fi drama television show he had watched.
The 32-year-old witness who was called to testify on Tuesday appeared to be unable to look toward Pelletier as he asked her questions about the date.
'That was (nearly) four years ago. I don't remember a lot of things,' the woman said. 'I'm not really comfortable with these questions.'
Pelletier suggested that the woman told him, back in 2021, that she was 'mentally exhausted' and was looking for a friend to talk to. He also said he was mentally exhausted at the time as well and asked if she recalled this.
'I don't remember,' the woman said bluntly. 'I remember that we met at a park (on Mount Royal) and that we went back down the trail (after).'
Pelletier then asked the woman if she recalled having coffee and cake with him on Queen Marry Rd., near St-Joseph's Oratory.
'The cake I remember, not the coffee,' the woman said.
She also confirmed that Pelletier gave her a 'small gift' during the date — a small pepper spray.
The woman also said she could not remember if Pelletier made any reference to having just broke up with a woman, an apparent reference to Bonnier.
Pelletier then referred to 18 pages worth of text messages he exchanged with the woman and asked her why she turned down his offer to meet a second time, to bring her to the Laurentians so she could hand out her curriculum vitae because she was searching for a job. The offer came with a suggestion that they do sightseeing in the Laurentians.
'Because I don't trust you,' the woman said of her rejection. 'What I remember is that (you said) your name was Frank, and that's not even your real name.'
Late Tuesday afternoon, the jury began watching a videotape of Pelletier's interrogation by a Montreal police homicide detective following his arrest immediately after Bonnier was killed.
The video is five hours long and, at the start, Pelletier is seen in the video seated with his arms folded as he remains completely silent and refuses to answer any of the detective's questions.