MONTREAL — A 61-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her nephew inside her apartment Thursday in Montreal's northern suburb hours after officers visited the home, police say.
Police arrested Jérôme Alfred Frigault, 30, at the scene, and the man was arraigned Friday afternoon and formally charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his aunt, Mireille Martin.
Martin was found with serious stab wounds just after 5:30 p.m. when officers responded to the building in the Vimont district of Laval, Que., regarding an alleged dispute between adults. She was taken to hospital where her death was confirmed; Frigault was sent to hospital for evaluation.
Const. Erika Landry said police were first called to the home at 2:30 p.m. that day and a "police intervention" took place involving paramedics and social workers.
Jacqueline Brunet, a neighbour of Martin for many years, said she noticed a large contingent of first responders speaking to Martin outside her home Thursday afternoon. Her daughter, Aline Breault, said police stayed for about 45 minutes, adding that she had never seen officers at that home before.
Brunet said that hours later, around 5:30 p.m., she heard tons of noise and could hear police smashing through the glass window near the front door.
Breault said she saw Martin emerge from the apartment and collapse near police.
"It was the last time we saw her move," Breault said.
Breault said she tried to get an update on her fallen neighbour, but was moved back by a police officer. From her own property, she could hear the suspect yell, "kill me! kill me!" in French, as police attempted to arrest him.
Brunet said Frigault seemed like a polite young man and was shocked by Thursday's events.
"We could have never expected this from him," Brunet said.
Landry said in an emailed statement that the province's police watchdog, Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, or BEI, was informed of the sequence of events but chose not to investigate.
Frigault will return to court in January 2024.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2023.
Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
