By Canadian Press

Hit man offered $100,000 to kill Montreal crime reporter covering his trial

Nov 29, 2024 | 11:56 AM

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

La Presse says convicted killer Frédérick Silva, who turned police informant in 2022, confessed to issuing the contract in 2021 on investigative reporter Daniel Renaud, but the hit was never carried out.

Quebec Premier François Legault denounced the plot against Renaud, saying today “it doesn’t make sense” that in Quebec a journalist would be targeted for death for doing his job.

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

He recalled the attempted assassination of journalist Michel Auger, who was shot multiple times in the back in the parking lot of the Journal de Montréal in 2000 — which put enormous pressure on organized crime.

Festive season

Winter Wonderland returns to Gateway Mall

46m ago

Doc suspended

Melfort doctor receives four month suspension after admitting to unprofessional conduct

2h ago

Policing

Bikes and backpacks: PA Police chief says cause needed before interview can happen

Nov 28, 2024

Champagne says Quebec’s journalist community mistakenly believed hits on reporters were a thing of the past.

La Presse said today it learned of the contract against Renaud after reviewing the confession the killer made to police.

At the time the contract was issued, Renaud was covering the trial of Silva, who was charged with three murders and one attempted murder.

La Presse says the bounty was active for two months before Silva, who is serving a life sentence in prison, cancelled the hit to focus on “more important issues.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2024.

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press