A convicted murderer who was out on parole and given permission to satisfy his ‘sexual needs’ has been charged with the murder of a 22-year-old woman.
Eustachio Gallese, 51, was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 without possibility of parole for 15 years, after he was found guilty of murdering his 32-year-old partner Chantale Deschenes. She was beaten with a hammer and repeatedly stabbed.
Despite this, Canada’s parole board downgraded Gallese’s risk of re-offending from ‘high’ to ‘low to moderate’ last year, granting him day parole at a halfway house in March. The board extended his day parole for another six months in September.
Marylène Levesque, 22, was found dead at a hotel in Quebec City’s Ste-Foy district last Wednesday, January 22. Marylène, a sex worker, met Gallese at the hotel after the erotic massage parlour she worked at allegedly banned him for behaving violently with several masseuses.
Gallese turned himself into local police the following day, on January 23. The 22-year-old’s body was found by police shortly afterwards.
Following Marylène’s death, questions have been raised around the parole board’s work after it granted the convicted killer limited freedom for good behaviour.
When the board extended Gallese’s day parole last September, it noted that a ‘risk-management strategy’ had been developed to allow him to meet women – ‘but only to respond to your sexual needs’, as per the Montreal Gazette.
According to its latest written decision, obtained by VICE, Gallese had brought up relationships with women during a discussion with his case workers.
The written summary read:
Although you are still single and you say you aren’t ready to enter into a serious relationship with a woman, you are able to efficiently evaluate your needs and expectations towards women.
During the hearing, your parole officer underlined a strategy that was developed with the goal that would allow you to meet women in order to meet your sexual needs.
Two former board members said earlier this week that changes brought in by the federal government in 2017 resulted in a lack of experienced members, and this may have been a factor in the murder of Marylène.
Dave Blackburn and Jean-Claude Boyer said these changes meant the vast majority of the existing board members were replaced with people without prior experience, which might have played into the decision to renew Gallese’s day parole last year.
Boyer said an experienced board member would have revoked Gallese’s parole upon learning that he – a man with a history of violence against women – had been given permission by his case worker to meet up with sex workers, which is in itself a crime, he said.
Sandra Wesley, who runs Stella, a non-profit by sex workers for sex workers, told VICE she doesn’t believe the parole board measured Gallese’s risk of re-offence adequately. She noted how nobody questioned Gallese’s entitlement to women’s bodies, adding that sex workers should have been warned of the killer’s reintegration.
Wesley also said the blame for Marylène’s death doesn’t fall solely on the parole board’s ‘inappropriate’ decision, adding: ‘It is very obvious that criminalisation of sex work facilitated the violence of this man.’
While selling sex is not a criminal offence in Canada, the Harper government introduced Bill C-36 in 2014, which made advertising and purchasing sex illegal.
Gallese was charged with second-degree murder and detained on Friday. His court date is set for February 26.
Our thoughts are with Marylène’s loved ones at this difficult time.
Rest in peace.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).