How A Notorious Fraudster Became A Violent Murderer
It was a fraud gone wrong, ending with a woman’s sudden disappearance in La Malbaie.
As a swindler, you can convince people of whatever you want them to believe. Unfortunately, Lisette Bawali, a woman in her 50s, fell victim to it like many other residents in the small community of La Malbaie. But, unlike others, she got on the wrong side of the fraudster, Jacques Emmaus, and vanished, only to resurface as a dead body on 21 April 1999. It was the most chilling discovery, one that still haunts La Malbaie.
The Mysterious Envelope
Lisette Bawali was a single mother of three daughters who lived in La Malbaie, based in northern Quebec. She worked as a massage therapist, and one of her clients was Jacques, a man in his 30s. On 12 April 1999, he gave Lisette an envelope and proposed a deal with Lisette.
Jacques said that she could keep the envelope that contained about 35,000 dollars in cash on one condition. She was not supposed to open it till the next appointment with him. While handing her the envelope, he explained how she was doing him a huge favor. He had inherited this lump sum of the money recently, and it was straining his relationship with his shopaholic wife.
