The High Court has dismissed an ‘abuse of process’ filed on behalf of two United States nationals charged with the 2023 murder of Canadian philanthropist Daniel Langlois and his 58-year-old longtime partner, Dominique Marchand. The Court upheld the submissions of the prosecutor Sherma Dyrample, and set a trial date for June 26, this year.
Attorneys Ravi Rajkumar of Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucian Alberton Richelieu had petitioned the court on behalf of their clients, Jonathan Lehrer and Robert Snider Jr. Arguing that the state had ‘abused the process’ and as a result, their clients would not get a fair trial.
In April this year, the defence had argued that they had filed documents of ‘abuse of process’ on behalf of the men and that it was improper to have the charges read to them before.
However, Dyrample, objected, explaining to the court that the indictment as filed was properly before the court and that there was no reason why they should not be read to them to have them enter a plea.
The judge agreed with the prosecution and ruled that the indictment ought to be read to them and have them enter a plea of ‘guilty or not guilty.’
On April 15, 2026, the two accused men were officially arraigned and pleaded not guilty to murdering Langlois and Marchand, whose bodies were found incinerated in a car near Gallion, south of here, where they owned a hotel.
Langlois and Marchand had been reported missing for several days. The murder of the Canadians came amidst a long-standing property access dispute over a public road. Lehrer owned the 53-acre Bois Cortlette Inc Estate situated next to Langlois’s sustainable resort, Coulibri Ridge.