Killing Cain
The Goulet-Gauthier killings
Sex, murder and fratricide on the backroads
by Charlie Angus HighGrader Magazine May/June 2000
Warning: Contains disturbing language and content.

Robert Goulet couldn't keep his mouth shut and so the 18-year-old was going to have to die. The decision had been made by Goulet's uncle, Greg Crick. Crick was fed up with Goulet's inability to keep quiet about the gay-bash killing of farmer Louis Gauthier. In the rural, backwoods region north of New Liskeard, rumours were flying. It had been six months since the badly beaten body of Gauthier had been found, and the cops were putting more and more pressure on the prime suspects - Crick, Goulet and Goulet's younger half-brother, 16-year-old Michael Laffrenier.
At a time when cool heads were needed, Goulet was becoming a lose cannon. Michael warned his brother on a number of occasions that he was going to get killed if he didn't shut his mouth. Crick was making no secret of it either -"Robert's going to catch a fucking bullet."
But Goulet kept talking -telling people around the pool hall at the LaSalle Hotel in Earlton about the terrible night they bashed in Louis Gauthier's brains with iron bars. Goulet couldn't seem to get over it. He was having nightmares. The constant police pressure was getting to him. Now he had his uncle threatening to do him in, just like they'd done in Gauthier.
But Goulet wasn't afraid of Crick. He figured he could handle himself against his scrawny uncle and his kid brother. And anyway, Robert was a "scrapper" - the fuse the other's had needed to get the Gauthier killing done.
Goulet may have been a scrapper, but others who knew him were inclined to use less flattering terms - "seriously damaged goods", "a psycho"- the kind of guy who's idea of a good fight was to get you on the ground from behind and then kick in your head with his cowboy boots.
Funny then, that of the three of them, Robert Goulet had become the weak link, the one who couldn't live with the guilt, the one who had to be silenced. The killing was done with a sledgehammer and a fishing knife on a dark concession road. Uncle Greg planned it carefully. He wasn't going to leave a trace for the cops or anybody else to find.

Two Cains
Michael and Robert had always been trouble. But along the gravel road townships north of New Liskeard -- Henwood, Kerns, Hudson, Ingram and Hilliard -- trouble and kids was nothing new. Sure, there were lots of proud, independent farmers on those concession roads, but it was also hard, scrabble, bush country. A lot of people planted roots on tough ground and raised up a crop of junked cars, broken school buses and kids who were just a little wilder than the average.
Lorraine Crick had three children - Robert, Michael and Missy. Robert had his father's last name - Goulet. Michael and Missy were both named after the next dad, Laffrenier. Robert lived for a while with his dad out west. When he came home for his last year of public school, he was wired tight and ready to scrap at the drop of a hat.
Michael, on the other hand, was a little easier going. Sure, he knew his share of trouble, but it was never too hard to get a smile out of him.
The one thing Michael could always count on was his older half-brother. Robert Goulet had a strong sense of family. He doted on his mother and he looked out for his kid brother.
When Michael was nine, the Laffrenier family started renting a house owned by Phileas Gauthier. The Gauthier's are a big clan in the Temiskaming farm belt and Phileas' brother Louis owned a farm nearby. It was a local hang-out for kids.
Louis Gauthier was a bachelor. Some said he had a thing for boys. But nobody paid too much attention to his private life. Louis Gauthier seemed a quiet, decent man. He was a farmer who made his money working on the summer highway crews. He regularly came into the Lasalle Hotel in Earlton for his afternoon coffee and honey. He would then come back at night for a single beer and watch the teenagers play pool.
Michael was introduced to Louis through Louis' nephew Sylvain. Soon after, Michael was heading over to Louis' place to play pool and hang out.
Gauthier fed the boys. He let them watch tv or mess around in the back forty with his pick up truck. He also supplied the boys with alcohol and drugs. By the time Laffrenier was fourteen he was getting pretty heavy into pot and was a regular hanger-on at Louis' farm.
On the home front, things weren't going too well for Michael. He was clashing with his father about his failing grades and constant drug taking. Michael was given an ultimatum - shape up or ship out. The fourteen-year-old youth chose to ship out - bouncing back and forth between Gauthier's place and Greg Crick's apartment.
Gauthier had been making sexual advances on Michael for some time. Now that he was living with him and getting stoned regularly, the teen slipped into a sexual relationship with the 43-year-old farmer. Folks who knew Gauthier well began commenting that Michael was Louis' new "girlfriend."
The relationship was far from agreeable. Michael didn't seem to mind getting stoned and having Louis perform sex on him, but he certainly didn't like having to reciprocate. As well, he was still trying to maintain interests in his own age group. Michael started dating a girl. Gauthier wasn't pleased.
One night Michael failed to show up for a prearranged meeting and Gauthier went looking for him. He found the 16-year-old Michael in bed with his girlfriend. Louis confronted Michael about their relationship and Michael chased him out of the house. Later the two ran into each other on the street. Louis referred to the girl as a "slut" and Michael once again went after him, this time threatening to kill him.
Michael later told the cops that he never really wanted to kill Gauthier. He said he admired Gauthier in some ways. Gauthier had given him food to eat and a place to stay when he was on his own. But he also knew that Gauthier had used him. "I didn't hate him," Laffrenier maintained, "I hated what he had done to me."

Wasting His Gas
Cut loose from Gauthier, Laffrenier found himself turning to his Uncle Greg for support. At 34 years-old, Greg Crick didn't have a lot going for him. His wife and four kids had left him. His father had just died.
Crick, with his shaggy hair and sunglasses, was a far from impressive figure. He worked occasionally picking tobacco down south or as a tree puller at the Tree Nursery in Swastika. Most of the time, however, Crick was broke and scheming - just another sarcastic bullshitter taking up space in the backroom of the Lasalle Hotel.
The one skill Greg Crick did seem to possess was being able to get Michael to his bidding. Michael's mother, for example, could get nowhere with Michael. Greg, on the other hand would simply say, "Michael, go out and change that tire," and Michael would do it.
Michael Laffrenier told Crick about Gauthier's sexual advances. He wanted to know what should be done. Crick thought about it and then stated matter-of-factly, "he's gotta be taken out."
The only problem for Crick was how the killing should be done. The first attempt involved Crick and Laffrenier. Crick drove the car out to Gauthier's place. Michael decided he would lure Gauthier to the window and then hit him with a tire iron. Michael went up to the porch and broke a window but Gauthier didn't seem to notice.
Afraid to go in the house and confront Gauthier, Laffrenier panicked and ran back to the car. He told Crick he couldn't go through with it.
"Great," muttered his uncle sarcastically, "You wasted my gas."
Crick then set about finding a third partner -- someone who would make sure that the job would get done. Crick and Laffrenier argued for some time about who that third partner might be and then Michael suggested his own half-brother Robert.
It was the perfect choice. Although Goulet and Crick couldn't stand each other, Goulet had everything they needed; he was violent, he had a very short fuse and he hated homosexuals. Counting on family loyalty was an added bonus. Just telling Robert that Michael had been molested would be enough to bring Goulet in on the plan.
And so the next time, Crick made the drive to the Gauthier residence, it wasn't a scared nephew and a scheming uncle - it was three pumped up hyenas coming in the darkness to take down their prey.

Killing Louis Gauthier
When the cops were called to the scene by Louis' relatives on April 24, 1996, they found a sickening crime scene. Gauthier's head had been pulverized. The beating, which appeared to have started on the bed, had moved to the floor. Blood covered the walls but the place had been carefully wiped clean of prints. The weapons had been removed, as had a rocking chair, that Gauthier had apparently tried to hide under.
No boot marks or sneaker imprints had been left on the ground. None of the neighbours saw a car. It was a gruesome killing but somebody had obviously thought a great deal about its execution.
That person was Greg Crick. Prior to the killing, he had gone over the plan again and again with his nephews. The car was to be hidden a mile from the farm so nobody would be able to place them at the scene. Once at the house, speed was of the essence in case Gauthier tried to go for his hunting rifle or attempt to escape into the darkness.
Crick's job was to cut the phone lines and disable the truck. Michael, knowing the layout of the house, was to go in first. He'd kick the door in, rush the bedroom and start wailing on Gauthier with a tire iron. Goulet would come in next armed with a large iron ratchet. A couple of quick whacks on the head and it would be all done. Then Crick would come in and do the clean up.
The night of the killing, they watched the Leafs-St. Louis play-offs at Greg's apartment, killing time until it got late. After hiding the car they made their way up to Gauthier's porch and then Crick called a huddle.
His nephews were both high -- strung out on a razor's edge. Goulet was liable to do something stupid. Laffrenier was liable to chicken out. Crick outlined the plan one last time and then motioned to Laffrenier to kick open the door.
Michael lamely tested the door with his hand. It was locked. He whispered pathetically, "I don't think I can kick it in."
Crick hissed back, "A baby could kick it in."
That was the push Laffrenier needed. He hoofed in the door with his cowboy boots and then rushed into the darkened house.
To get to the bedroom he had to go about eight feet and then jog 90 degrees to avoid a railing that led to the basement stairs. Laffrenier, well-used to the house, made straight for the bedroom. Goulet, however, was temporarily sidelined by smashing into the railing.
By the time Goulet reached the bedroom, Laffrenier was already on Gauthier. Both brothers began pounding on the defenseless man with their iron bars.
Laffrenier, fearing that his frenzied brother was going to hit him by mistake, demanded that Goulet turn on the light. The time it took to turn on the light gave the boys time to realize what they were doing and it brought them face to face with their victim.
Gauthier, at this point, had only been bruised on the arms and shoulders. He was pleading with Michael, talking with him, trying to bring him down from his violent high. For a moment, both Goulet and Laffrenier froze.
Laffrenier, unable to take it, left the room. He ran into his uncle who was waiting in the living room.
"It's enough," Michael declared, hoping that Crick would agree.
"Dead men don't talk," Crick said, "Finish it."
By now, Gauthier knew the boys were going to kill him. He lunged off the bed, trying get protection for his head by hiding under a rocking chair. Goulet pulled the rocking chair away and the beating began again.
Blood was spraying all over the walls. Gauthier lay quivering senseless on the ground. His whole skull had been caved in.
Michael went to leave the room but his uncle was standing in the doorway.
"Make sure," he said.
Laffrenier then went into the kitchen, found a knife and came back and stabbed the body a number of times.
Laffrenier now started searching the house for drugs. Crick, however, quickly intervened.
"Don't touch anything," he said to them both.
With the killing done, Crick was taking command. "I want to know everything you touched."
Crick then grabbed a rag soaked with javax. He wiped the light switch, the handles of the drawers -- anything that might leave an incriminating mark. He then told the boys to gather up the tools. On the way out, they grabbed the rocking chair and a lamp to make sure it wouldn't be tested by forensics. This evidence was then tossed into the muddy depths of the Blanche River.
Then they went home, content that this time, the gas had been put to good use.

Missing Teens
Eighteen-year-old Robert Goulet went missing on November 6, 1996. The last people known to have been with him were Greg Crick and Michael Laffrenier. They claimed that they had dropped him off at the pool hall in New Liskeard.
Goulet's disappearance came six months after the killing of Louis Gauthier and a mere two months after the disappearance of another local teen- 15-year-old Melanie Ethier (see The Long Vigil of Celine Ethier HighGrader September/October 1999).
Around the coffee shops of New Liskeard and the surrounding farm belt, folks speculated on the possible connections between the two missing teens. There were reports that Goulet and Ethier had been seen together hitchhiking out west. It seemed odd that the police weren't connecting the two disappearances in any way.
What wasn't known to the public, however, was that the cops were pretty much convinced that Goulet was dead -- killed either by his uncle or brother, or both. The Gauthier investigation had provided little hard evidence against the trio but phone wire taps and loose conversation was painting a picture of a nasty little conspiracy with Greg Crick at the centre.
The three men had emerged as the primary suspects in the Gauthier killing and the cops were applying the pressure. Michael, the pothead, wasn't exactly solid -- Crick had taken to writing alibi notes for Laffrenier to memorize. But tough guy Goulet was becoming even more of a problem.
Goulet seemed unable to keep his part in the crime under wraps. It wasn't like he was boasting to people about his part in the gruesome killing. He seemed to be trying to exorcise his crime by talking about it.
Crick decided to get out of the spotlight by heading down south. The smart thing for Goulet to do would be do disappear for awhile. But both Crick and Laffrenier knew that wasn't going to happen. Goulet was a momma's boy. He never went a day without seeing his mother or phoning her. Crick realized that Goulet just wasn't going to to leave the picture - not without help anyways.
As Crick told his brother Terry, "I didn't know Robert was going to tell 45 fucking people that he did it. And I didn't think he was going to finger me and Michael either; fucking jerk-off. If he keeps this up he's going to catch a fucking bullet."
While down in Brantford, Crick was once again taken in for questioning. The cops made it clear that if Crick didn't come up with some answers quick they were going to charge him as the prime suspect in the Gauthier killing.
Crick stalled for time. "Give me a month," he pleaded, "let me get things figured out."
What Crick planned on figuring out was how to get rid of Goulet. He packed his bags and headed back up north to a house in Hilliard Township (south of Englehart) that the conspirators had been using as home base. The house (owned by Jean Guy Chartrand) was just 400 metres down the road from where Michael and Robert's mother lived.
Crick set out to plan Goulet's death even more carefully than he planned Gauthier's. He and Michael dug a grave in an obscure gravel pit on the back road. The only issue was how to get Goulet out to the grave.
The first attempt involved an attempt to con Goulet into going out to the gravel pit with Michael and Greg but Goulet didn't take the bait. They then invited Goulet to come over to Greg's place so they would go buy drugs together in Earlton.
Goulet agreed, even though he tried to avoid Crick's company as much as possible. Knowing that Goulet was on his way over, Crick set the wheels in motion. He placed a sledgehammer outside the back door, carefully tucked away to the left, so the left-handed Laffrenier would be able pick it up as they led the unsuspecting Goulet out of the house.
Michael was to hit Goulet with the hammer and then stab him with a fishing knife he had hidden in his right sleeve.
The three set out for the car, leaving by the back door and the waiting sledgehammer. Crick was in the lead, with Goulet in the middle and Laffrenier coming up from behind to do the dirty deed.
But once again, Laffrenier chickened out. Robert, not knowing he just escaped death, walked up to the car, intent on going in search of the promised drugs.
Now the two conspirators were forced to improvise. They drove around Earlton on the lame pretext of trying to find drugs. Goulet then came back to the house with them.
When they stepped out of the car, Crick was once again in the lead, with Goulet in the middle and Michael coming up from behind, still carrying the concealed fishing knife.
When Greg reached the door he turned back and looked straight at Laffrenier. Michael drew the knife and plunged it into Goulet's back. Robert, stunned by the blow, sat down on the steps of the deck, looking up at his kid brother. He didn't notice Crick sneaking around behind him. Crick grabbed the sledgehammer and hit Goulet in the head.
The blow knocked off his glasses, but Goulet didn't go down. Instead, he pulled the knife out of his back and made a mad dash towards his mother's house.
It was a 400 metre run up a steep hill to the safety of the nearby home. Michael, once again, froze. Crick took off after Goulet.
The next thing Laffrenier saw was Goulet and Crick both coming down the hill together. Somehow Crick had managed to talk Goulet into handing over the knife. Goulet was probably dazed or in shock. Crick was telling him not to worry, that they were going to drive him to the hospital in Englehart. Goulet was nodding in agreement.
"I'll tell them I got in a fight," he replied as if to reassure his two attackers.
As they reached the bottom of the hill Michael joined them. Now Crick was on one side with the knife, Goulet was in the middle and Laffrenier was the other side. Crick, not one to sully his own hands, gave the nod to Laffrenier and passed the knife to him behind Goulet's back.
As they came close to the car, Crick suddenly pulled on Goulet's arm throwing him off balance. Goulet went down to one knee. Michael pushed him from behind and then plunged the knife into the base of the neck. It entered the brain stem killing Goulet instantly.
As Goulet fell to the ground Crick sprang into action. He pulled out a tarp that had been hidden in the dog house. They used the tarp to cover the body.
They then drove to the waiting grave. They set up little torches at the site for light and buried in four feet of clay. Crick was sure the cops would never find the body.

Cutting a Deal
Goulet's disappearance disturbed the police. They were pretty much convinced Crick and Laffrenier had killed him but without a body there was little evidence. What they did have, however, was mounting wire tap evidence of the conspiracy to kill Louis Gauthier. On November 16, 1996, Inspector Joe Beranick was called in to handle the questioning of Crick. Beranick, a veteran of many police investigations, didn't like Crick's attitude and told him, "This isn't the first murder investigation I've done."
Afterwards, the cops listened in on a wire tap to Crick giving Laffrenier a run down of Beranick's questioning. "I felt like telling him," said Crick, "That this wasn't the first murder we'd done."
In late December 1996 charges were laid against both Gregory Crick and Michael Laffrenier for the murder of Louis Gauthier. With Crick's trial scheduled for adult court, Michael Laffrenier was facing a youth court hearing to determine if his case would move to adult court.
The Crown realized realized that without a body, it would be difficult to get a conviction for the additional murder of Robert Goulet. A deal was going to have to be cut. The question was, who was the less onerous of the two villains?
In the end, it was Laffrenier who made the deal with the Crown. He agreed to fully disclose what happened in the killings, as well as lead the police to the body of his murdered brother.
At a hearing in July 1998, Laffrenier pleaded guilty and was convicted of second degree murder in the death of Louis Gauthier and accessory after the fact for killing his own brother. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years. Even then, it will be up to the parole board to decide whether parole is warranted.
After a five-week jury trial held in April 2000, Gregory Crick was convicted of two counts of first degree murder with no chance of parole for 25 years. He was led away from the courtroom maintaining his innocence and saying his only crime was trying to cover up for his nephews.

This article may be reprinted but any reprints require prior permission.
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