03-07-2025
Jean-Paul Bainbridge denied parole in sentence for Isabelle Bolduc murder
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One of the men who took part in the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young woman from Sherbrooke nearly three decades ago has been denied parole.
Jean-Paul Bainbridge, 54, has been eligible for full parole for four years for his role in the death of 22-year-old Isabelle Bolduc, a music student that he pulled off the streets of Sherbrooke on June 30, 1996. Bainbridge brought her back to an apartment where he had been drinking and consuming cocaine with two other convicted criminals named Marcel Blanchette and Guy Labonté.
After what a judge later described as '18 hours of verbal, physical and psychological terrorism,' Bolduc was forced into a car. Bainbridge drove while Blanchette wrapped his arm around Bolduc's neck and strangled her. Both men struck her head with a metal pipe before Bainbridge dragged her body into a wooded area, where it was discovered a week later.
All three men were arrested shortly after Bolduc's body was found. Bainbridge pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other offences like kidnapping. The guilty plea came with an automatic life sentence, but, in 1997, the judge who heard Bainbridge's case decided to set his period of parole ineligibility at 25 years. This made his sentence similar to one for a first-degree murder conviction.
On Sept. 4, 1996, Blanchette pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. In 2023, he was granted permission to escorted leaves, the first step toward day parole.
In 1997, Labonté pleaded guilty to forcible confinement and he received a seven-year prison term.
Bainbridge was previously turned down twice for escorted leaved and, on June 26, he was scheduled to have a parole hearing, but he cancelled it at the last minute. Four days later, the Parole Board of Canada made a written decision to deny Bainbridge both day and full parole.
'The board believes that you will present an unacceptable risk to society if granted day parole and/or full parole, and that your release will not contribute to the protection of society by promoting your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen,' the parole board wrote in the summary of its decision.
'Following (a decision to deny Bainbridge escorted leaves in 2018), you became involved again in institutional trafficking and in 2019 viewed pornography (on a contraband smartphone) containing incestuous sexual relations with teenage girls and involving the use of force, which is very concerning in light of your offences.
'Clearly, your deviant fantasies still seem present, and despite the programs you have followed over the years, you did not realize that this type of violent and deviant material, which you used to manage your emotions and frustrations, exposed you to your risk factors. It is particularly worrying that, even in a controlled and monitored environment, you are using violent and deviant sexual content.'
The parole board also noted how Bainbridge, an Indigenous person who identifies as Métis and a member of the Blackfoot Nation, lost his 'position of trust as guardian of sacred Indigenous land in September 2024,' because he had been caught in possession of contraband, including homemade knives.
'During your childhood, you lived on a reserve and were introduced to Indigenous culture, but not to spirituality. You reportedly did not experience residential schools and are unaware if your (relatives) were victims,' the parole board wrote. '(You) grew up in a dysfunctional and unstable family environment, marked by violence and substance abuse.'
