A lawyer who was shot at the door of his home in March 2020 had no doubt about the identity of the sponsor of the attack, he testified on Monday, at the trial of the two individuals who allegedly tried to execute him. .
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“It was Malo who fired me. He was the one who sent people to shoot me, ”said Me Nicholas Daudelin on Monday, repeating what he had immediately said to his wife after the attack.
Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
La victime, Me Nicholas Daudelin
The civil lawyer recounted the events in court as the trial of Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye, 42, and Daouda Dieng, 36, opened at the Longueuil courthouse. They are, among other things, charged with attempted murder.
According to the lawsuit’s theory, they agreed to perform the contract at the request of Jean-Francois Malo, a 43-year-old real estate developer from Joliette.
Courtesy picture
Jean-Francois Malo
This businessman had a dispute of several million dollars with the Mouvement Desjardins, which Me Daudelin represented.
Unbearable gaze
On the evening of March 26, 2020, the accused would have gone to Mont-Saint-Hilaire, in Montérégie, and one of them would have rung Me Daudelin. Suspicious that we show up at his door in full confinement, the 34-year-old lawyer denied his identity.
After insisting that the man leave his property, Me Daudelin saw a second man appear in front of him.
“His look made my blood run cold. [J’étais] unable to hold his gaze. And luckily, maybe that’s what saved my life, [car] I saw the gun go up, ”said the lawyer, who instantly rushed to hide.
Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
Crown prosecutor Me Marilyn L’Italien-Leblanc questioned the victim on Monday, during the first day of the trial at the Longueuil courthouse.
He heard two shots coming through the glass of the door and felt “unbelievable” pain in his leg.
He then urged his spouse to call 911, and to contact his colleagues who were also working on Malo’s file.
“I wanted to make sure they took cover. I was thinking of a coordinated attack,” he said, listing other cases in which people were allegedly retaliated against by the promoter.
Also accused in this case, Malo, whose lawyer recently withdrew from the case, will undergo a separate trial.
◆ The trial scheduled for ten weeks continues on Tuesday.