CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie

Canadian murderer

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 25, 2026
Entity authorityQ5606878 ↗
Source-derived summary

On April 23, 2005, Fred Fulton, 74, and Veronica "Verna" Decarie, 70, of Minto, New Brunswick, Canada were stabbed to death, with Fulton also being decapitated with a homemade sword. On March 5, 2008, their neighbour, Gregory Allan Despres, was found guilty for the murder, but not criminally responsible for his actions at the time due to having suffered paranoid schizophrenia-led delusions.

Murders

On the evening April 23, 2005, Despres left his trailer and traveled a short distance on foot to the residence of Fred Fulton and Veronica Decarie. Despres gained access to the house by cutting open the screen of one door with a knife and kicking in the second door.

Despres went to the couple's bedroom where he stabbed Decarie to death. While Fulton attempted to escape the house, he only made it to the porch before being overpowered by Despres. Despres then dragged Fulton back to the kitchen where he decapitated him. While it was originally reported to the media that Despres had thrown Fulton's head out the back door, it was actually found under the kitchen table in a pillowcase.

Perpetrator

Gregory Allan Despres was born in Minto, New Brunswick in July 1982. As a young child, his mother, Jenny Despres, separated from Despres' father.

Editorial summary

“Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie” enters the record as canadian murderer. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Murder, Fred and Fulton can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2005, 2008, 1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1982-07-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Murder, Fred and Fulton.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Murder, Fred and Fulton provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5606878. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2008 and 1982.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie primary sources, Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie archive and Murder research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Murder of Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.