The body of a 42-year-old woman was found after a fire in Montreal’s Pointe-aux-Trembles district on Tuesday night. Police (SPVM) say she was the victim of a murder.
Emergency services were first called to the apartment on Versailles Street, near Forsyth Street, at around 7 p.m., because of the fire.
The woman was unconscious when she was found by first responders. Despite resuscitation efforts, her life could not be saved.
It was only later that police noticed “marks of violence” on the victim’s body, confirming that she had been killed first.
Police are investigating this as a murder.
To protect the investigation, the SPVM is not revealing the exact nature of the “marks of violence.”
Another woman was found near the scene of the fire. She suffered “lower body injuries,” but it’s not yet known whether her injuries were related to the fire or to an earlier event.
In a state of shock, she was taken to hospital, but her life is not thought to be in danger.
For the moment, her role in the event remains unclear. The SPVM considers her to be an “important witness,” but investigators are still trying to confirm her identity.
She will be interviewed by police once her condition permits. However, she is not considered a suspect in this case, according to agent Jean-Pierre Brabant, spokesperson for the SPVM.
On Wednesday morning, a security perimeter was still set up near the apartment building where the fire occurred, and a mobile command post was deployed on the site.
Investigators will attempt to establish a more precise sequence of events, as well as to understand the causes of the fire. They will be looking to speak to other tenants in the building, as well as contacting the victim’s family to find out more about her.
The SPVM’s Major Crimes Division is in charge of the investigation. This is the ninth murder to occur this year on the island of Montreal.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews