I want to scream, but here we are. A 22 year old woman named Marylène Levesque has been murdered because some dude who should have been kept in jail was allowed out to satisfy his ‘sexual needs.’
It’s a case that’s happening in Canada. Eustachio Gallese (51) was given a life sentence after beating his partner, Chantale Deschesnes, to death with a hammer and stabbing her in 2004. Court documents from his murder trial show that he was violent to his ex-wife before he met Chantale, so any argument that the jail didn’t know this was a pattern is immediately shot down there.
Because of good behaviour in prison, his risk of reoffending was lowered from “high” to “moderate” and eventually to “low to moderate” last year.
In a written decision from the parole board about Gallese, the fact that he wanted sex was brought up.
“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,” the summary says.
“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.”
And so, Gallese was let out to meet his ‘sexual needs.’
Marylène Levesque was a sex worker who worked out of an erotic massage parlour. Eustachio Gallese had actually been banned from the parlour because – surprise, surprise – he’d been violent to women there before. Marylène didn’t know this, so agreed to meet him at a hotel instead.
At about 11:30pm that night, Gallese showed up to a local police station and told them that could find her body, which showed “marks of violence” in the hotel room.
She was declared dead at the scene.
This case is Canadian, but we’ve seen so many similar stories without even having to leave Australia. Jill Meagher was killed by a man out on parole. The man who killed Eurydice Dixon will be about Eustachio Gallese’s age when he gets let out. Aiia Maasarwe was facetiming her sister to stay safe. It’s just heartbreaking.
This was preventable. Marylène Levesque should be alive, going about her life. But she’s not. She died because a man who had been convicted of murdering his partner with a hammer was feeling horny and had ‘sexual needs’.
She deserved so much better.
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