The 39-year-old man arrested by Montreal police and accused of killing his ex-spouse was already awaiting trial in a domestic violence case involving the victim, who had cameras installed everywhere she was so afraid of him.
Odna Daudier was found dead in her vehicle a little over a year ago, on May 29, 2022, in the early morning. It was a passerby who discovered her lifeless body at the corner of boulevard de la Rivière-des-Prairies and 7e Street, in Rivière-des-Prairies.
As the 32-year-old woman bore no signs of violence, the police initially treated the case as a suspicious death. But on Tuesday, it finally came to an end when major crimes investigators arrested his ex, Jacques Adonai Charpentier, and his new spouse, Mélissa Estimé, 22.
Cause still unknown
The couple was formally charged with premeditated murder on Wednesday morning at the Montreal courthouse and remain detained pending further proceedings.
For the moment, it is impossible to know what caused the death of the victim. One thing is certain, it took several toxicological analyses, a meticulous autopsy and months of work to come to a conclusion strong enough to be presented in court.
Cameras in her home and in her car
Odna Daudier, a woman of Haitian origin who had immigrated to Quebec in 2013, had left the accused shortly before the tragedy. According to her friend and colleague, the man had tried to strangle her twice in the previous months. He had also been formally charged with assault, threats and forcible confinement in February 2022 following an altercation with the victim and was awaiting trial.
“She was scared,” said her friend Dieudonné Agella. She had cameras in her home and in her car. She was still worried, but in the months before her death she was starting to be less worried because of the cameras and the fact that the police knew about it.
Odna Daudier worked as an administrative assistant in an integrated university health and social services center (CIUSSS) in Montreal. The numerous testimonies delivered at her funeral depict an exuberant woman, with a contagious joie de vivre and whose smile was bright. Some have also mentioned her discretion about her personal life, she who always preferred to solve her problems on her own.
– With Jonathan Tremblay