A jury that had been deliberating for more than two days has found Juan Fermin Palma guilty of the second-degree murder of Pamela Jean.
Jean disappeared on Dec. 30, 2012 and her body was found less than a week later.
Palma, the victim’s boyfriend, was arrested shortly after her body was found.
During the trial, Palma presented a defence claiming he was intoxicated when Jean was killed. On Tuesday, the jury asked Superior Court Justice Eric Downs to provide them with a definition of premeditation and how it applies to a first-degree murder charge. It was an indication the only thing the jury disagreed on, at least for a while, was whether Palma should be convicted of first- or second-degree murder.
Rosa Robinson, left, mother of Pamela Jean leaves the courtroom during a break in Juan Fermin Palma’s murder trial in Montreal Nov. 8, 2016.
In her opening statement to the jury early in November, prosecutor Catherine Perreault said that the couple had argued often in the weeks leading up to the murder and that Jean had broken up with Palma on Dec. 23.
He had asked to see her again and met with her, at her parents home in Longueuil, but it did not go well.
Despite this, Palma was able to convince Jean to spend time with him between Dec. 25 and Dec. 29, in 2012. They went out to a bar that last night and Jean was never seen alive again.
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