Maude Chauvin, 21, and her sister Patricia Chauvin, 27, moved to the island city on the St. Lawrence from Angers, France in 1977 and rapidly fascinated, enthralled and seduced Montrealers by supplying two of the three things we loved most in the late-70s: sex and crime news.
The blonde-bombshell, sequin-sporting sisters gained notereity by dating a pair of outlaw brother bandits, Pierre Renaud and Michel Renaud.
Michel was short and dreamy and Pierre was tall and rough.
Trouble began when the brothers shot and killed police officer René Vallée on Davaar near Van Horne on 16 February 1979 while robbing a jeweller's home.
They escaped in their orange Camaro and gained refuge with the Chauvin sisters at their highrise apartment at 33 Cote St. Catherine, where Michel was already living.
The four fled town inside a big metal bird to Puerto Rico where police arrested them on 25 February.
They were quickly arrested and returned to Montreal where the sisters were featured in news stories, starting with one that ran before they even touched ground, which saw both sisters implausibly insisting that they were models and not strippers. They'd abandon that claim soon after.
The sisters had their perp-walk airport likenesses splashed on front pages, as they sported shiny high boots and adorable headwear alongside their cop-killing boyfriends.
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| Maude |
Shoofey, a West End Gang source tells Coolopolis, offered at least one client to arrange for the sisters to pleasure him in an erotic way. The Chauvin sisters, it seems, were sexual libertines who loved to love and Shoofey knew this as plain as the rising sun.
Prior to their flight to Peurto Rico, the Chauvin sisters had displayed their delectable young, fit bodies in a wide variety of Montreal strip clubs, calling themselves Sami and Cindy, performing $3 table dances and earning an impressive $500 a week.
The girls proved sufficiently alluring to march into any nudie club with no prior notice and start right away, something most dancers couldn't get away with. Strip clubs familiar with the sisters included the Sexe Tuple on St. Lawrence, the Cafe Caprice on St. Denis, The Harem in Carterville, Georgio's in St. Leonard, Le Domino on Pie IX and the Doric on Taschereau on the South Shore.
See also: Strippers in hot water after cop murdered
On 20 March reporters tracked the Chauvins down to Le Castel Tina at Jean Talon and Viau where owner Salvatore Gervasi gave them the run of the place in hopes that they'd drum up more business.
The sisters seemed untroubled by the looming criminal charges and even saw their prickly legal situation as something of a blessing. "One of the good effects of the affair is publicity has brought offers from many clubs," Patricia told a reporter in late March 1979.
Their idea was to bring some classy events like erotic fashion shows to the Castel Tina. "We hope we can bring some class here and with it some class customers, the type that drink cognac and don't treat you like trash," said Maude.
Maude noted that since her troubles began, friendly people had been introducing themselves to her in the street. But vigilantes also sent menacing notes condemning their involvement with the death of a police officer. "We often wake up in the middle of the night wondering about them. But people have been generally good," she told the reporter.
The Chauvins made news in June when Ghislain Maltais, owner of the Hotel Commercial in La Baie, complained that the sisters had vandalized their premises in his hotel by intentionally blocking drains and flooding the room in retribution for his docking them $10 on their cheques for being late to their performances.
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| Sisters land in Montreal |
Police refused to allow Patricia to fetch cash to pay the fines or even hug her sister Maude. Patricia kicked and punched an officer in frustration, leading police to charge her with assault.
A few weeks later the Renaud brothers went down in a blaze of glory in October when they busted out of a paddywagon from the jail to the courthouse and made a mad dash to the US border, resulting in Pierre getting shot dead and Michel getting locked up in an American prison.
The Chauvins attended Pierre's funeral and then flew to France to visit family for three weeks. On 24 November prosecutors dropped accessory charges against Maude and Patricia Chauvin. On 11 January 1980 a judge ruled on Patricia's assault charge, ordering her to simply keep the peace for 12 months, thus averting a criminal record.
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| Patricia |
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| With Michel Renaud |
