Three people, two men and a woman, were arrested Monday in Kahnawake, on the South Shore of Montreal, in connection with a sordid murder case that occurred the day before in the suburbs of Quebec. The victim’s body was discovered in poor condition on Sunday in an agricultural area of L’Ancienne-Lorette.
This was confirmed on Monday by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), which opened an investigation in the last hours. The suspects were arrested on Sunday evening. They are a 44-year-old man from the Montreal region, another 31-year-old man from Contrecœur and a 31-year-old woman from the Montreal region.
The trio was arrested in a vehicle, very close to a gas station in the Kahnawake area, on the South Shore of Montreal. Each of the suspects was to be met individually by investigators from the SQ Major Crimes Section during the day on Monday, before appearing before a judge to face murder charges.
Earlier, on Sunday around 1:30 p.m., a body was found in the agricultural sector of Notre-Dame Avenue, in L’Ancienne-Lorette, triggering a murder investigation from the start. A security perimeter was still installed in this sector of Quebec on Monday.
At this stage, the SQ believes that the murder occurred in the Contrecœur sector. The body would then have been brought to the Quebec region, over a distance of approximately 270 kilometers, to finally be abandoned there on the land of a pruner.
This is where “human remains” were discovered, police say. According to our information, the body was slashed, possibly using industrial equipment that was on site, before being burned.
The Press was able to confirm Monday with police sources that the murder appears to be linked to organized crime. However, this information has not yet been made official by the authorities. One thing is certain: reinforced collaboration has been put in place between the SQ and the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) in the hope of moving the investigation forward as quickly as possible.
Vast operation in Contrecœur
Monday, at the start of the day, a residence was also the subject of a search in Contrecœur. According to preliminary information, this could be the place where the murder in question was first committed. Several units, including the Forensic Identification Service and the Judicial Science and Legal Medicine Laboratory (LSJML) were called in for reinforcement.
A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec, Sergeant Stéphane Tremblay, also indicated that a search will be carried out in the vehicle in which the three people were arrested.
Please note: for the moment, the identity of the victim is still unknown in this case. An autopsy must be performed on the body first. Potential witnesses could also be met by the police to try to shed light on the causes and circumstances of the case, which remains nebulous.
This is the fifth murder to occur in Quebec City since the start of the year, but already the fourth of the summer season. In the lower town, in the Limoilou sector, three homicides occurring in less than a month shocked the community a few weeks ago.