Denise Picard

In the summer of 1967, 17-year-old Denise Picard, a young woman from Montreal, was looking forward to a summer vacation. She joined her friend, 17-year-old Suzanne Gilbert, for a trip with Suzanne’s family to the scenic Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. The group stayed in a collection of small cottages near the St. Lawrence River in Saint-Simon-de-Rimouski, a peaceful setting for what should have been a carefree holiday. The two friends shared their own cottage, enjoying the last weeks of summer together.

The idyllic vacation came to a brutal and tragic end on the morning of August 10, 1967. When Suzanne’s mother went to wake the two girls, she made a horrifying discovery. Inside the cottage at Anse à Pierre-Jean, both Denise and her friend Suzanne were found dead. The crime scene revealed a shocking level of violence; both teenagers had been shot at close range and struck on the head with a blunt object. They were in their nightclothes but had not yet gone to bed when the attack occurred. The double homicide of two young women in a quiet vacation town sent a wave of fear and disbelief through the region.

The Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force, launched an immediate and intensive investigation. Led by Inspector Adrien Boisvert of the homicide section, the inquiry was exhaustive for its time. Detectives questioned known sex offenders and criminals across the region and interviewed every registered owner of a.32 caliber revolver, the type of weapon believed to have been used. The investigation was painstaking, with police reportedly checking nearly 1,500 cars that might have passed near the private road leading to the cottages on the night of the murders. The murder weapon, however, was never found.

Suspicion eventually fell on a man who was part of the vacationing group, a family acquaintance named Hector Savoie. In 1968, the sexagenarian from Montreal was charged with the murders. His testimony at a coroner's inquest had reportedly contradicted that of other witnesses. However, the evidence against him was deemed insufficient to proceed to a full trial, and a judge ordered a stay of proceedings, leading to his release. Though freed, a cloud of suspicion lingered over Savoie for the rest of his life. He passed away a few years later.

For decades, the case grew cold, a painful and unanswered question for the families of the two slain teenagers. But advances in forensic science would eventually bring a stunning turn. In 2018, more than 50 years after the murders, the Sûreté du Québec re-examined evidence from the crime scene. Biological samples, including sperm found on one of the victims and a hair found in the other's hand, were subjected to modern DNA analysis. The results officially and posthumously cleared Hector Savoie, proving his innocence decades after he was first accused.

With Savoie exonerated, the investigation was re-energized. Police confirmed that since 2018, they have identified and focused on approximately ten new potential suspects. DNA analysis was conducted on these individuals or their descendants, but as of late 2025, these efforts had not yet identified the person responsible for the murders of Denise Picard and Suzanne Gilbert.

As of May 2026, the double homicide remains an active, unsolved case with the Sûreté du Québec's cold case unit. Nearly six decades have passed, but the search for the killer continues. The mystery of who entered the small vacation cottage on that summer night and so violently ended the lives of two young women remains one of Quebec's most haunting cold cases.

Any information that could help solve this crime can be communicated to the Sûreté du Québec's Centrale de l’information criminelle at 1-800-659-4264.