Escaped Quebec murderer killed unconscious man with an axe, court docs show
On Sunday, Correctional Service Canada said the 69-year-old, who was serving an indeterminate sentence for first-degree murder, had escaped from Archambault Institution in Quebec's Laurentians area.
A short time later, provincial police in Ontario issued a release saying Germa could be hiding in the southwestern portion of the province.
Here is what we know about Germa:
The crime
According to an appeal filed in 1995, Germa was involved in the brutal slaying of Bradley Alderton on Oct. 19, 1990, in Chertsey, Que., which is about 100 kilometres north of Montreal.
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Germa, Alderton and a third man were involved in a robbery in Toronto, where they made off with $29,000, but the two men felt the Alderton had ripped them off.
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They met up with him at a home Germa had been renting in Chertsey, and after the deceased passed out, they killed him with an axe and a knife.
How he was caught
The third man, listed in the court document as 'Borland,' led police to the body following his arrest in connection with several robberies.
Initially, he attempted to pin the entire crime on Germa, but after taking a polygraph, he admitted he had also stabbed the victim.
The two men replaced the mattress where the victim had been sleeping the following day, and that night, they buried the body in another location in Chertsey.
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On June 5, 1991, Borland led police to the body.
The escape
On Saturday, Germa was found missing during an inmate count at the minimum-security unit of Archambault Institution, where he was serving his sentence.
Germa is the second convicted killer to escape from Archambault in the last three weeks.
Fellow inmate Richard Plourde escaped on June 22 and was arrested by Quebec provincial police the following day.
The facility is located in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, about 40 kilometres northwest of Montreal, and has housed some notable inmates, including Valery Fabrikant and Luka Magnotta.
The Ontario connection
On Sunday, police in Ontario announced that Germa may be hiding in southwestern Ontario, more specifically in the South Bruce or Hanover areas, and was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.
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When asked what connected Germa to the area in that specific part of the province, a police spokesperson told Global News that Germa has relatives in the area.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
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