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Marc Lépine (October 26, 1964–December 6, 1989) was a Canadian mass murderer, who killed 14 women in what is known as the École Polytechnique Massacre.
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Born Gamil Gharbi, the son of Algerian immigrant Liess Gharbi and Quebecois Monique Lépine, he grew up in a poor and extremely dysfunctional household in Montreal with an alcoholic father who brutalized his mother. Following his parents' divorce, at age 13 Gharbi's name was changed to Marc Lépine.
As a teenager, Lépine had difficulty establishing and maintaining relationships with females and over time began to blame feminism for his problems to the point where he developed a pathological hatred against women. He applied to join the Canadian Armed Forces but was rejected as unsuitable for military service and his application to engineering school was also turned down. Lépine came to believe that it was women who had robbed him of his rightful place in the education system, and in the world.
On November 21, 1989, Lépine purchased a Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle at a local sporting goods store. On December 6, Lépine walked into the École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal. There, he ordered the males to leave, then shot 14 women dead while screaming "I hate feminists." In addition to his killing of thirteen female students and one female university employee, Lépine injured eight other women before turning the gun on himself.
Lépine left behind a three-page letter that said feminists had ruined his life. It also contained a virtual hit list of nineteen high-profile Quebec women whom he apparently wanted to kill, and expressed his admiration of Denis Lortie, who had killed three Quebec government employees in 1984.
Marc Lépine is buried in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, just a few blocks from where he committed his crime.
The Tragically Hip wrote a song, entitled Montreal, about the murders, though it has only been performed at a few of their live performances. A segment can be heard during the song Courage on their live album, Live Between Us.
Macabre (www.murdermetal.com) wrote a song called Montreal Massacre, about Marc Lépine. Lyrics: http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/macabre/sinisterslaughter.html#4fr:Marc Lépine