A first episode was the «trigger point». During a party , Daphné saw him writing to another girl. She wanted to leave. «He followed me, calling me names. He threw a trash can at me. But his friend put his foot down so I wouldn't get it. I was stunned. His friend said: �He's stressed, he's had his season, he's unwinding,'» says Daphné.
After the party , Gabriel Gagné takes the wheel. He insists that she get in the car with him. On the way, she demands to get out of the vehicle. "I was scared. He was super aggressive," she testifies. That's when he accelerates to 240 km/h and threatens to kill them.
"I was terrified," she sighs.
Another time, Gabriel Gagné grabbed her by the throat and showed her his fist. The accused shouted at her: "At some point, you're going to get a big kick out of it!" For her safety, she lets him attack her, she says.
During yet another crisis, Gabriel Gagné grabs a 40-pound dumbbell and brandishes it over Daphné. At the last second, someone close to Daphné intervenes and orders him to leave. It's the beginning of the end. But a few days later, their relationship ends with a particularly trying sexual assault.
"At that moment, I was crying, crying, crying. Big tears. He just penetrated me. My tears were flowing. In my head, it was empty," she told the court.
But Gabriel Gagné doesn't let go of Daphné. He calls her constantly. He creates fake accounts on social networks to contact her. For months, the woman is terrified. He even writes to her: "I'm going to burn your house down. You'll see the consequences. I paid someone to kill you. I'm not afraid of the police."
It was too much. Daphne filed a complaint with the police. "I was at the end of my rope," she sighs.