Deschenes gets life, in stabbing death of Micheline St. Amour

A 63-year-old North Bay man, Roger Deschenes has been sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for at least 15 years, for the horrific murder of Micheline St. Amour of East Ferris way back in the summer of 1980. She was stabbed 23 times in the chest and sexually assaulted on July 10, 1980. She was also stabbed in other parts of her body.

Deschenes was sentenced by Superior Court Justice Greg Ellies Thursday. A charge of first-degree murder was withdrawn by the Crown.

See: Suspect named, Police release update this morning of a women murdered in East Ferris 40 year ago

And: North Bay man faces murder charges in 40-year-old case

Deschenes was a porter at the North Bay Regional Hospital when he was arrested by police and charged with first-degree murder in 2020.

Back on July 10, 1980, the body of 20-year-old Micheline St. Amour was found in the bedroom of her East Ferris home. She had died of her injuries caused by stab wounds. Deschenes later told police he had used a hunting knife.

Her common-law husband arrived home from work at 6 p.m. and found St. Amour lying in a pool of blood in their small home's bedroom. 

Her two-year-old child was found unharmed in a nearby bedroom.

At the time, OPP investigators had offered a $10,000 reward for information to try and find the killer.

Despite appeals to the public back then, along with continued investigation efforts, the homicide went unsolved. 

Additional information through DNA found at the scene, including blood and semen. breathed new life into the case back in 2018 and it progressed quickly.

Deschenes had no criminal record before or after St. Amour’s killing.

A the time of the arrest, police said it brought a mixture of relief and sadness to the family. However, in a victim impact statement, St.Amour’s daughter said their lives had been turned upside down with “constant feelings of loss and anxiety."

In a statement to the court, Deschenes described his actions as “nothing short of atrocious. Pure evil. I am 100 per cent guilty of her murder.”