Charges laid in 1994 murder of 10-year-old Marie-Chantale Desjardins

Quebec provincialpolice declared the decades-old murder of 10-year-old Marie-Chantale Desjardinssolved on Tuesday, saying advanced forensic biology methods have resulted in a murder charge fora61-year-old inmate of a prison north of Mont-Tremblant, Que.

Ral Courtemanche, 61, was arrested this morningat La Macaza Institution, a federal medium-securityprison, and was charged with first-degree murder today in a court in Saint-Jrme, Que.

Desjardinswas last seen alive leaving a friend's house in Sainte-Thrse, a suburb on Montreal's north shore,onJuly 16, 1994. Her body was found four days later in the neighbouring town ofRosemre, in a wooded area behind thePlace Rosemreshopping centre.

The disappearance and tragic outcome was front-page news at the time, transfixing the province and country but the investigation went cold.

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Sylvie Desjardins, Marie-Chantale's mother, was at the courthouse for Courtemanche's brief appearance. Crown prosecutor Steve Baribeausaid today's events are "a difficult chapter" forDesjardins's family members, who in spite of getting answers 29 years after the girl's death, must now relive the tragedy.

"We're bringing all this back into their lives,' Baribeau said. "These are people who have shown great resilience throughout this process."

Investigators from theSret du Qubec's (SQ) unsolved crimes division worked with Quebec's provincial forensics lab to identify Courtemanche as the suspect. TheLaboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de mdecine lgale du Qubec, was also central to identifying the killer of Sharron Prior, a 16-year-old from Montreal'sPointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood whose murder in 1975 was resolvedearlier this year.

Baribeaudeclined to offer furtherdetails aboutthe evidence or technology used. "This is a 30-year-old case," he said. "And one of the concerns, clearly, is to make sure that our evidence is laid outcomprehensively."

Courtemanchehas been in and out of prison for decades for numerous crimesincluding assaults,thefts, drug cultivation and breach of conditions.

He was declared a dangerous offender by Quebec Court Judge Jacques Trudel in 2015. That decision followed arequest byCrown prosecutors after atrial in whichCourtemanche was convicted ofseveral charges after kidnapping a woman in her 20s at knifepointin Princeville, Que., in 2011.

In the document outlining the dangerous offender decision, Trudel noted that prior to the convictions for the Princeville kidnapping, Courtemanche had been convicted of 89 criminal offences since 1981, including 11 "involving the use of violence."

Trudel concludedthat "only a sentence of incarceration of indeterminate duration"would adequately protect the public against the risk of Courtemanchecommitting further crimes.

The next court date has been set for Jan.17, Baribeau said.