Marc Lépine
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Marc Lépine (October 26, 1964 – December 6, 1989) was a 25 year old man from the Province of Quebec, Canada, who killed 14 women in what is known as the Montreal Massacre or Ecole Polytechnique Massacre.
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Background
Born Gamil Gharbi, the son of Algerian immigrant Liess Gharbi and Canadian Monique Lépine, he grew up in a poor and dysfunctional household in Montreal. He changed his last name from Gharbi to Lépine, and later changed his first name as well, possibly in an attempt to fit into French-Canadian culture.
He applied to join the Canadian Armed Forces but was rejected. He completed several years of college courses in preparation for attending the engineering school, but his application to study engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal was rejected for reasons not given at the time of his attack on students there. In the absence of a proper investigation at the time, it is problematic to try to establish reasons why he was not accepted.
On November 21, 1989, Lépine purchased a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle at a local sporting goods store. On December 6, 1989, Lépine walked into the École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal. There, he first entered a second-floor classroom where he separated the men and women and then ordered the men to leave. After the men left, he shot the nine women who remained. After this, Lépine shot other women throughout the building, killing 14 women and injuring 13 others. Twelve female engineering students, one nursing student, and one female university employee were killed, and four men and nine more women were injured before Lépine turned the gun on himself.
Lépine left behind a three-page letter (see statement below) claiming feminists had ruined his life, and explaining the social changes in society that had led to this result. The letter also apparently contained a list of nineteen high-profile Quebec women. It is unknown whether Lépine intended to kill the listed women. The letter was never officially made public, but was leaked to Francine Pelletier, who had it published in the newspaper La Presse. In his suicide letter, Lépine expressed admiration for Denis Lortie, who mounted a political attack on the Quebec National Assembly in 1984, killing three Quebec government employees.
Marc Lépine is buried in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, just a few blocks from where he committed the massacre.
Remembering the Montreal Massacre
Canadians mark the day of the killings with a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
People Killed
- Geneviève Bergeron (b. 1968), civil engineering student.
- Hélène Colgan (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
- Nathalie Croteau (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
- Barbara Daigneault (b. 1967) mechanical engineering student.
- Anne-Marie Edward (b. 1968), chemical engineering student.
- Maud Haviernick (b. 1960), materials engineering student.
- Maryse Laganière (b. 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department.
- Maryse Leclair (b. 1966), materials engineering student.
- Anne-Marie Lemay (b. 1967), mechanical engineering student.
- Sonia Pelletier (b. 1961), mechanical engineering student.
- Michèle Richard (b. 1968), materials engineering student.
- Annie St-Arneault (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
- Annie Turcotte (b. 1969), materials engineering student.
- Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (b. 1958), nursing student.
Suicide note
Forgive the mistakes, I only had 15 minutes to write this. See also Annex.
Please note that if I am committing suicide today 89/12/06 it is not for economic reasons (for I have waited until I exhausted all my financial means, even refusing jobs) but for political reasons. For I have decided to send Ad Patres the feminists who have ruined my life. It has been seven years that life does not bring me any joy and being totally blase, I have decided to put an end to those viragos.
I had already tried as a youth to enlist in the [Armed] Forces as an officer cadet, which would have allowed me to enter the arsenal and precede Lortie in a rampage. They refused me because of asociality. So I waited until this day to carry out all my projects. In between, I continued my studies in a haphazard way for they never really interested me, knowing in advance my fate. Which did not prevent me from obtaining very good marks despite not handing in my theory assignments and studying little before exams.
Even though the Mad Killer epithet will be attributed to me by the media, I consider myself a rational and erudite person that only the arrival of the Grim Reaper has forced to undertake extreme acts. For why persevere in existing if it is only to please the government? Being rather retrograde by nature (except for science), the feminists always have a talent for enraging me. They want to retain the advantages of being women (e.g. cheaper insurance, extended maternity leave preceded by a preventive leave) while trying to grab those of the men.
Thus, it is self-evident that if the Olympic Games removed the Men/Women distinction, there would be only be women in the graceful events. So the feminists are not fighting to remove that barrier. They are so opportunistic that they neglect to profit from the knowledge accumulated by men throughout the ages. They always try to misrepresent them every time they can. Thus, the other day, people were honoring the Canadian men and women who fought at the frontlines during the world wars. How does this sit with the fact that women were not authorized to go to the frontline at the time??? Will we hear of Caesar's female legions and female galley slaves who of course took up 50 per cent of history's ranks, although they never existed? A real Casus Belli. Sorry for this too brief letter.
[List of 19 women he wishes to kill.]
Nearly died today. The lack of time (because I started too late) has allowed those radical feminists to survive. Alea Jacta EST.
References in popular culture
- Adam Kelly wrote a play about the murders called The Anorak. It was named one of the best plays of 2004 by Montreal Gazette theatre critic Matt Radz.
- Gilbert McInnis, writer and drama teacher, wrote a play about the violence called The Die is Cast (2004).
- The Tragically Hip wrote a song entitled "Montreal" about the murders, though it has only been performed at a few of their live performances. A segment can be heard during the song Courage on their live album, Live Between Us. Lyrics and Explanation [1]
- Macabre wrote a song called "Montreal Massacre" about the events. Lyrics: [2]
- The Wyrd Sisters released a song about the massacre entitled "This Memory" on their album Leave a Little Light. Wyrd Sisters Official Site
- The Law and Order season ten premier episode GunShow was based on his case and the Columbine shooting.
External links
- CBC Archives on the Montreal Massacre
- Article about Lépine on Crimelibrary.com
- Montreal Massacre website
References
See also
- Valery Fabrikant, perpetrator of the Concordia University massacre
- Kimveer Gill, perpetrator of the Dawson College shooting
- Denis Lortie, who shot up the Quebec National Assembly, admired by Marc Lépine
