Serge Audette found guilty in Patricia Ferguson killing after 30 years

Serge Audette was found guilty on Monday of killing Patricia Ferguson in 1996, three decades after the case had been treated as a disappearance. The judge immediately incarcerated him after the verdict.

June 1996 in east Montreal

According to the judge, Ferguson was violently sexually assaulted before she was killed in June 1996 in east Montreal. The court’s finding turned a case that had long been handled as a disappearance into a homicide judgment.

Judge's finding on Audette

The judge described Audette as a dangerous repeat sexual predator. That finding came as the court entered a guilty verdict on the killing that had gone unresolved for 30 years.

Patricia Ferguson case closes

The immediate consequence is that Audette is in custody after the ruling, ending a trial result that reached back to the 1996 death. For anyone following the case, the verdict answers the central question the disappearance left open: the court placed responsibility for Ferguson’s death on Audette.