It took more than three years for his case to reach trial, but jurors only needed several hours of deliberation to find a Flin Flon man guilty of murder.
James Desmarais, 48, was convicted last week of second-degree murder in the Oct. 31, 2011 death of Raylene Dawn Grant, 21, at the Royal Hotel.
Following a brief trial in Court of Queen’s Bench in The Pas, Desmarais received an automatic life sentence. He has no chance of parole for 15 years.
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, Desmarais didn’t deny strangling Grant but maintained he was too drunk to know what he was doing. He sought a conviction for the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Crown attorney Brian Bell disputed Desmarais’s claim. Bell pointed to coffee shop surveillance video and testimony from hotel staff he said showed Desmarais was not grossly intoxicated, the Free Press reported.
The newspaper further reported that autopsy results showed Grant died of asphyxiation after being choked with something, possibly hands and/or a ligature, and that she had head injuries consistent with being punched.
In March 2013, Desmarais contacted The Reminder and for the first time went public with his side of the story.
He said Grant was in his room at the Royal Hotel, where he had been staying “for a few days,” at the time of her death.
Desmarais said he and Grant knew each other and that she had stopped by for drinks after they dined out.
He said he later blacked out and then woke up to find Grant had died. He also denied the Flin Flon RCMP’s assertion that he had confessed to the crime.
But the Free Press quoted Desmarais as telling police, “I committed a murder and I want to turn myself in” and leading them to the hotel where Grant’s body was found inside a second-floor room.
Bell also countered Desmarais’s claim that he couldn’t remember what happened that night.
“He can pinpoint the exact time his memory goes blank. It’s when he was murdering Ms. Grant,” the prosecutor told court, as quoted by the Free Press. “We say you should find that convenient. We say the killer meant to do these things. The intent [to murder] can be formed in an instant of rage and lead to a lifetime of regret.”
The evidence against Desmarais had long appeared damning. In 2013 the Crown prosecutor at the time successfully filed for a direct indictment in the case.
That cancelled a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the evidence supported the second-degree murder charge, opening the door for a trial.
Desmarais had been in custody in The Pas since his arrest the day after Grant’s death. He made multiple court appearances before jury selection in his trial began Feb. 3.
His first two lawyers bowed out of the case for unknown reasons. He discharged his third and fourth lawyers.
In the end it fell to Darren Sawchuk, a Winnipeg attorney, to represent Desmarais.
The 12-member jury sat five days in total, entering deliberation last Thursday, Feb. 12. Shortly after 9 pm that night, they rendered their verdict of guilty.
Sentencing followed the next day, but given Desmarais’ automatic life sentence the only question was how long he would have to wait for parole eligibility.
Given parole eligibilty options of between 10 and 25 years, the judge settled for a midway point of 15 years.
Sources say Desmarais had moved to Flin Flon from another community, though it’s not clear when. He operated a computer repair business.
Grant – known by some as “Ray of sunshine” – was born in Flin Flon. After her family moved to North Battleford, she returned to Flin Flon as an adolescent.
Growing up she was a tomboy with a soft spot for animals and a passion for dancing, music, movies and video games.
Grant attended Parkdale School before moving onto Hapnot Collegiate. As a young woman she worked as a customer service manager at Walmart and a housekeeper at the Victoria Inn.
At the time of her passing she was a retail worker at The Bargain Shop.
“People knew her for her big sparkly brown eyes and her big smile,” Grant’s aunt, Bev Jackson, told The Reminder in 2012. “She made a lot of people’s day every day, regardless of what they were going through or what she was going through.”
In a tragic coincidence, Grant was murdered several hours before a busy section of Third Avenue was renamed Angel Avenue in honour of female victims of violence.
Desmarais’s trial was held in The Pas given that murder trials no longer take place in
Flin Flon.
The Reminder could reach neither the prosecutor nor the defence attorney for comment.
