Accused killer Claude Larouche of Montreal was sketched during a court hearing. (Radio-Canada)A preliminary hearing is underway for a Montreal man accused of killing 37-year-old Natasha Cournoyer a year ago.
Claude Larouche, 49, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of the Corrections Canada employee from Piedmont, north of Montreal, who disappeared the night of Oct. 1, 2009.
Police believe Cournoyer was abducted after getting off work in the Corrections Canada communications department in Laval, Que. Her body was discovered days later in Pointe-aux-Trembles, a borough in Montreal's east end.
Evidence presented at Larouche's preliminary inquiry cannot be reported because of a publication ban. The judge presiding over the hearing will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to order Larouche to stand trial.
Larouche, with his head shaved, remained calm during the hearing Monday, which included testimony from a police officer who participated in the investigation and a crime scene investigator.
Larouche has also been arraigned on a charge of assaulting a sex worker two weeks after Cournoyer's death.
With files from the Canadian Press, Radio-CanadaShare Tools
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