On January 12, 1988, a quiet morning in northern Ontario turned into a murder investigation when 62-year-old mechanic Wilfrid Gaudreault was found dead in the bathroom of his home in Capis Casing, Canada.
Wilfrid had been stabbed multiple times while shaving. His neighbor, Suzanne Gravel, had heard shouting and crashes coming from the house. She then saw a short, stocky man leave the property and drive away in a blue pickup truck.
At first, the case looked straightforward. Police had a witness, a suspect description and a vehicle.
But the investigation soon became much more complicated.
The man seen leaving the house was eventually identified as Richard Boucher. Yet investigators could not find an obvious connection between Richard and Wilfrid.
The answer was hidden much closer to home.
Who Was Wilfrid Gaudreault?
Wilfrid was a 62-year-old mechanic who lived a quiet life with his 53-year-old girlfriend, Agathe Brochu. The couple had been together for about 12 years.
Wilfridwas known for being extremely careful with money. He had grown up poor, and his frugal habits stayed with him even after he had built up comfortable savings.
He avoided unnecessary expenses and wanted to retire soon. Even though he had money saved, he disliked spending it.
Agathe had become accustomed to his habits.
One night before the murder, she was visibly cold inside their house. Wilfrid knew she wanted him to turn up the heat, but he refused because he did not want to spend more money on electricity.
Instead, he brought her a shawl from the living room.
It was a small argument, but it reflected a larger problem in their relationship. Wilfrid’s attitude toward money would later become an important part of the murder investigation.
The Morning of the Murder
The next morning, Wilfrid woke up to find Agathe preparing breakfast and packing his lunch.
A few minutes later, he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to shave.
It was still dark outside. Wilfrid turned on the bathroom light, started shaving and then heard the door open behind him.
He turned around.
He did not realize that he was about to be attacked.
At the same time, their neighbor Suzanne Gravel heard loud crashes and shouting coming from the house.
She heard what sounded like Agathe screaming Wilfrid’s name repeatedly.
Suzanne went outside to investigate.
That was when she saw a man walking out of Wilfrid and Agathe’s house.
The man was short and stocky and appeared to be in his 30s. He looked directly at Suzanne before getting into a blue pickup truck and driving away without turning on the headlights.
Suzanne immediately returned home and called the police.
Soon afterward, Agathe arrived at Suzanne’s house without a coat. She was frightened and out of breath.
She told Suzanne that something terrible had happened to Wilfrid.
Police Find Wilfrid’s Body
About 20 minutes later, an Ontario Provincial Police constable arrived at the house.
The officer entered with his revolver drawn and searched the rooms.
Most of the house looked untouched. It was quiet and clean, with almost nothing out of place.
Then he reached the bathroom.
The scene was completely different.
Wilfrid was lying on the bathroom floor in his underwear. He had shaving cream on part of his face and multiple stab wounds to his neck, chest and arms.
The bathroom was covered in blood.
The constable checked for a pulse but found none.
Wilfrid was dead.
Because the town rarely dealt with homicides, the local officer did not have much experience with murder investigations. A detective with homicide experience was brought in from Toronto to take charge of the case.
The First Suspect: Richard Boucher
Detective Wayne Fchett quickly reviewed the evidence.
A neighbor had seen a man leaving the house.
The man was described as being in his 30s, short and stocky. He had driven away in a blue pickup truck.
There was no obvious sign of a break-in or robbery. The rest of the house was also largely undisturbed.
At first, investigators believed the man seen leaving the house could be Wilfrid’s killer.
But investigators soon found more clues.
A mysterious man matching the description had been seen around Capis Casing after the murder.
He had been wearing a rain poncho and ripped pants without a coat. He visited several stores and bought boots, a jacket and ski pants with cash.
Later, police stopped a taxi leaving town. Its passenger was a nervous man who matched the description.
Police recorded his name.
His name was Richard Boucher.
Then investigators found the blue pickup truck abandoned behind a paper mill. The vehicle was traced back to Richard. Bloody winter boots were also discovered nearby.
Richard quickly became the main suspect.
But Why Would Richard Kill Wilfrid?
Richard appeared to fit the physical description.
He was 33 years old and had previously been arrested for drug trafficking. He was also described as a cocaine dealer who provided strippers to local bars and hotels.
But investigators had one major problem.
They could not find a connection between Richard and Wilfrid.
The two men lived hours apart. Investigators could not identify shared friends, business relationships or other obvious links.
That raised an important question:
Why would Richard Boucher murder Wilfrid Gaudreault?
Detective Fchett began considering two possibilities.
Richard might have known Wilfrid through a secret connection, or someone might have hired Richard to kill him.
Wilfrid’s Family Had a Motive
The investigation soon uncovered a disturbing history.
Before dating Agathe, Wilfrid had been married to Agathe’s sister, Rachel Brashu, for 20 years.
Wilfrid and Agathe had an affair.
When Rachel discovered the affair, the family was torn apart. Rachel divorced Wilfrid and remained angry about what had happened.
Wilfrid’s son, Paul, had also taken the affair badly. He barely spoke to his father for years.
Then, only weeks before Wilfrid’s murder, Paul visited him during Christmas.
According to Agathe, the visit went surprisingly well. Paul and his father appeared to reconcile.
For Detective Fchett, the timing was suspicious.
Why Police Looked at Paul
Paul’s recent visit gave him an opportunity to learn about his father’s routine.
He would have seen the layout of the house and known how Wilfridspent his days.
More importantly, Paul had a long history of anger toward his father.
Detective Fchett called him to ask about the Christmas visit.
Paul’s voice was shaky. He said the visit had gone well but claimed he could barely remember what he and his father had discussed.
Fchett found that difficult to believe.
The meeting was important because father and son had been estranged for more than a decade. Yet Paul claimed the details were almost a blur.
The detective also asked Paul about Wilfrid’s money.
Agathe had said Wilfrid had substantial savings. If Paul knew about that money, an inheritance could potentially provide a motive.
Paul claimed he believed his father was broke.
At that point, however, Fchett still did not have enough evidence to connect Paul to the murder.
The Missing Money Changes the Investigation
The biggest breakthrough came when Detective Fchett examined Wilfrid’s bank statements.
Wilfrid really did have substantial savings.
But the money had been disappearing.
Large withdrawals had been made at regular intervals during the months before his death.
Fchett began wondering where the money had gone.
Could Wilfrid have been involved with drugs, sex workers or gambling?
Or could the missing money explain his connection to Richard Boucher?
If Richard and Wilfrid had secretly known each other, the murder could have been the result of a bad deal or unpaid debt.
But there was another possibility.
Someone close to Wilfrid could have been taking his money.
Richard Boucher Is Arrested
On January 16, police finally tracked Richard down and arrested him.
Detective Fchett traveled to the station to question him.
Richard was exhausted and appeared to be in poor condition. His clothes were dirty, he smelled bad and his eyes were bloodshot.
Fchett confronted him with the evidence.
He told Richard that a witness had seen him leaving the crime scene. His blue pickup truck had been found abandoned, and bloody boots had been discovered nearby.
Richard did not confess.
He remained silent and refused to answer Fchett’s questions.
The detective still needed to answer the most important question:
Was Richard acting alone?
Or had someone hired him?
The Police Set a Trap
Fchett eventually developed a plan to test his theory.
He believed someone else might be behind the murder.
Because the suspect would recognize Fchett’s voice, the detective had another constable make the phone call.
The constable pretended to be a concerned friend.
He said he knew what the suspect had done and wanted to hear what the suspect had already told police.
The call went quiet.
Then the suspect answered.
They said they had not told police anything.
Then came the statement that changed the case.
The suspect claimed to have enough money to make sure nobody else talked either.
That comment convinced Fchett that there was a mastermind behind Wilfrid’s murder.
The Mastermind Was Agathe Brochu
According to the police theory described in the investigation, Agathe had planned Wilfrid’s murder.
She had become frustrated with Wilfrid’s extreme frugality and wanted his money.
More importantly, she had already been taking money from him before his death.
For months, money had been transferred from Wilfrid’s account into Agathe’s own account without him noticing.
The man who spent so much effort protecting his savings was unknowingly funding the plot against himself.
Agathe had hired Richard Boucher as the hitman.
She was reportedly introduced to Richard through her niece, who owned one of the bars where Richard provided exotic dancers.
The money used to pay Richard reportedly came from Wilfrid’s own savings.
In other words, according to the police account, Wilfrid effectively paid for his own murder.
What Happened to the Suspects?
Agathe Brochu and Richard Boucher were both charged with first-degree murder.
Richard never went to trial. He died by suicide before the trial took place.
Agathe was convicted.
She eventually spent 20 years in prison before being released on parole in 2009.
The Clues That Exposed the Murder Plot
The case initially looked like a straightforward murder committed by a stranger.
But several clues eventually pointed in another direction.
The Missing Money
Wilfrid had significant savings, but money had been disappearing from his account for months.
That gave investigators a financial motive and helped connect the murder to someone close to him.
Agathe’s Knowledge of the House
Agathe lived with Wilfrid and knew his daily routine.
She did not need to learn the layout of the house or figure out when he would be vulnerable.
Richard’s Connection to the Crime Scene
A neighbor saw a man matching Richard’s description leaving the house.
His blue pickup truck was later found abandoned, and bloody boots were discovered nearby.
The Phone Call
The police’s anonymous phone call produced the crucial statement about having enough money to keep people quiet.
That helped investigators conclude that Richard was not necessarily acting alone.
The Final Picture
Wilfrid Gaudreault’s murder began with a seemingly simple question: who was the man seen leaving the house?
Police initially focused on Richard Boucher.
But finding Richard was only part of the investigation.
Detective Fchett had to understand why a man from another town would travel to a quiet community in northern Ontario and kill a mechanic in his bathroom.
The answer came through Wilfrid’s finances.
Money had been disappearing from his account.
That discovery shifted attention toward the people closest to him. The investigation eventually identified Agathe as the person who, according to police, had arranged the killing.
The case is a reminder that the person responsible for a murder is not always the person investigators first see at the crime scene.
Richard may have been the man who carried out the attack, but investigators believed Agathe was the person behind the plan.
And the money Wilfrid had spent years trying to protect ultimately became one of the biggest clues in solving his murder.