Murder suspect in RDP jail says victim is 'devil': court

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Ali Ngarukye told at least two people who work at the Rivière-de-Prairie prison that he thought the man he beat to death in the tiny cell they shared was “the devil.”

One of the people who heard Ngarukye, now 24, make such comments was Jules Okongo-Diongo, an overtime prison guard at the prison on June 17, 2021, who was tasked with taking Ngarukye to an isolated section of the prison. pass the bar search.

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Okongo-Diongo testified before a jury in a Montreal court on Friday where Ngarukye was charged with second-degree murder.

The body of Andre Lapierre, 57, was found inside cell S2-228 at 6am and minutes later four guards were told to take Ngarukie to the prison's P1 unit to be searched. Ngarukye was handcuffed and appeared calm as he walked silently with guards.

Okongo-Diongo was one of the guards who held one of Ngarukye's arms as he walked.

“We took him and he didn't resist. He didn't say anything,” said the guard.

Two of the guards are women, and Ngarukye refused to disrobe in front of them, Okongo-Diongo said.

“I can't decide because there are girls here,” Ngarukie recalled the guard saying that morning.

Okongo-Diongo told the jury that Ngarukye was sure the women had left by then and he agreed to take off his clothes.

“He mumbled something and I asked him what happened,” the guard said. “He replied, 'He is the devil.' I asked him what he meant, and he (correcting himself) said: “He is Satan.”

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Defense counsel Sharon Sandiford, cross-examining, said she did not know whether Warden Ngarukie was referring to Lapierre or one of the guards involved in the strip search.

“That's exactly what he said,” Okongo-Diongo said.

Another prison official who testified Friday afternoon said Ngarukie told him Lapierre was “the devil.”

Okongo-Diongo also said other guards at the detention center were clearly shocked when they saw Lapierre's body and the amount of blood in the cell.

“I didn't have a good (blood count),” the guard said.

When the trial began on Monday, Superior Court Judge Miriam Lachance told the jury that Ngarukie planned to plead not criminally responsible for Lapierre's death due to mental disorder.

Earlier this week, a jury was told Ngarukie was in custody after being arrested for the attempted murder of Montreal police officer Sanjay Vig. Lapierre was there for violating his parole by using heroin. He was awaiting transfer to a federal penitentiary.

The court session will continue on Monday.

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