On March 16, 2023, a fire of rare intensity broke out in a building on Place D’Youville, in Old Montreal, leaving seven dead and nine injured. One year later to the day, two parallel criminal investigations continue, but no one has been arrested.
“We find it appalling that the investigations are not progressing further, that we have no answers. We sympathize with the families of the victims, we would like them to have answers to their questions,” says Me Alexandre Bergevin, the lawyer for the owner of the burned building, Émile Benamor.
Mr. Benamor himself is the subject of an investigation led by the Montreal Police Service (SPVM), which is seeking to determine whether there was criminal negligence that caused the death of certain people. According to his lawyer, he is collaborating with the authorities.
At the time the fire broke out on March 16, 2023, 22 people were inside the building. Six escaped unhurt, nine were injured and taken to hospital. And seven died.
A tenant illegally sublet accommodations in the building on the Airbnb platform.
An 18-year-old young woman, Charlie Lacroix, lost her life in accommodation she had just rented for the night on the platform, with a companion, Walid Belkahla. Before she succumbed, she desperately called 911 for help. The flames blocked the exit from the small apartment which had no windows. The fire also killed An Wu, Dania Zafar, Saniya Khan, Nathan Sears and Camille Maheux.
The fire started intentionally
The SPVM is also conducting a homicide investigation since its experts discovered that the fire had been started intentionally. This investigation has made significant progress since last spring.
It was established that there was at least one fire at the front of the building located on Place D’Youville, and that gasoline was used to light the blaze.
The Press already revealed in January that a murderer on the run, Denis Begin, was filmed by cameras on site and admitted to police officers that he was present when the fire started. He claimed the fire was started by someone else, but was unable to prove it. No one else was seen at the scene at this time and Denis Bégin remains the police’s number one suspect, according to our information.
Nicknamed the “Halloween Killer” following a murder committed on the evening of October 31, 1993 while he was costumed as a horror film character, Denis Bégin was on the run at the time of the fatal fire at Old Montreal. He had escaped from a minimum security penitentiary in Laval and was living in Montreal under a false identity. He worked in building maintenance.
He has since been returned to custody, but has never been charged in connection with the fatal fire.