Quebec Halloween sword attack suspect says ‘bad’ version of him committed murder

Under cross-examination by the Crown, Carl Girouard pinned the blame for the murders on the "bad Carl,'' who had been obsessed with a mission to kill since about age 18.

The man accused of murdering two people with a sword in Quebec City on Halloween night 2020 insisted there were two competing versions of himself who were fighting for control.

Under cross-examination by the Crown on Thursday, Carl Girouard pinned the blame for the murders on the “bad Carl,” who had been obsessed with a mission to kill since about age 18.

Girouard, 26, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Francois Duchesne, 56, and Suzanne Clermont, 61, on Oct. 31, 2020, and he is also charged with five counts of attempted murder.

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He admits to killing Duchesne and Clermont and injuring five others, but he is mounting a not criminally responsible defence by way of mental disorder.

Girouard is insisting there were two versions of him the night of the murders — a normal one and a second version that was laser-focused on a mission to create chaos.

He says the version of himself that wanted to kill and sow chaos no longer exists.

“It’s a part of me because I had two Carls within me,” the accused testified today, adding that it was the other version of him that carried out the attack.