Crown opts for direct indictment for Quebec City Halloween night stabbing suspect

QUEBEC — Prosecutors in the case of the Quebec City Halloween night stabbing attack that killed two people filed a direct indictment today against the accused.

It means the case against 25-year-old Carl Girouard will skip the preliminary hearing stage and go straight to trial.

Girouard, of Ste-Thérèse, Que., is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder after a man dressed in a medieval costume and wielding a Japanese-style sword went on a rampage last Oct. 31 in Quebec City’s historic district.

Two residents, 56-year-old Francois Duchesne and 61-year-old Suzanne Clermont, were killed, and five others were seriously injured.