Hit man offered $100K to kill Montreal crime reporter covering his trial

Montreal news outlet La Presse says a hit man offered $100,000 to have 1 of its crime reporters assassinated.

La Presse says convicted slayer Frédérick Silva, who turned constabulary informant successful 2022, confessed to issuing the declaration successful 2021 connected investigative reporter Daniel Renaud, but the hit was ne'er carried out.

Quebec Premier François Legault denounced the crippled against Renaud, saying contiguous “it doesn’t marque sense” that successful Quebec a writer would beryllium targeted for decease for doing his job.

Éric-Pierre Champagne, president of Quebec’s nonrecreational journalists association, says helium was shaken by the revelations.

He recalled the attempted assassination of writer Michel Auger, who was changeable aggregate times successful the backmost successful the parking batch of the Journal de Montréal in 2000 — which enactment tremendous unit connected organized crime.

Champagne says Quebec’s writer assemblage mistakenly believed hits connected reporters were a happening of the past.

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La Presse said contiguous it learned of the declaration against Renaud aft reviewing the confession the slayer made to police.

At the clip the declaration was issued, Renaud was covering the trial of Silva, who was charged with 3 murders and 1 attempted murder.

La Presse says the bounty was progressive for 2 months earlier Silva, who is serving a beingness condemnation successful prison, cancelled the hit to focus connected “more important issues.”