Murder of Meriem Boundaoui | Five other suspects arrested by the SPVM

Five additional suspects were arrested Wednesday by Montreal police in the case of Meriem Boundaoui, the 15-year-old girl who was killed in broad daylight in the borough of Saint-Léonard last year. The murder weapon, however, has not yet been found despite intensive searches.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

“We can confirm that those responsible who were directly involved in this murder have been apprehended. We hope that these arrests will bring some comfort to the loved ones and family of Meriem Boundaoui, who have been sorely tried, ”said the acting director of the SPVM, Sophie Roy, at a press conference on Wednesday.

The operation was held on Wednesday, early in the day. In all, five people were therefore arrested, including the passenger and the alleged shooter who shot the girl, from a car. The other three people were arrested on various counts, including uttering threats, assault with injuries and drug trafficking. Appearances are scheduled for Thursday, but it is not yet known whether all of the apprehended suspects will appear before a judge.

“To see today a second person arrested in connection with this horrible crime, it feels good, especially for the family who are devastated. […] But it is also good for Montrealers, who see how everything is deployed on the ground, ”said the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante.

A relief for the family

Joined by The Press On Wednesday, Safia Boundaoui, Meriem’s ​​sister, spoke of a “relief” for her and her family. “We all share the same emotions. We are shocked, but at the same time, it is joy too. It’s a relief in fact, it’s a light for us and for the soul of my sister, ”she said on the phone.

The City estimates that 92% of investigations are eventually resolved in Montreal, compared to about 60% in the Toronto area. “It may seem like a simple number, but it’s really important. It’s huge,” Mayor Plante said Wednesday morning during a meeting of the executive committee.

For the moment, “the murder weapon has not been found”, however admitted the commander of the Major Crimes Section, Paul Verreault. He indicated that seven searches were carried out in residences, in order to make these arrests. Mr. Verreault also hopes that this news will allow the family to move on to another stage in their mourning, and promises in the same breath that the other murder cases will follow their course. “We always have a follow-up with the collateral victims, in any case of murder. There are cases that have been resolved, others that are still under investigation. But we are progressing, ”he said, when he was questioned by the media on the case of Thomas Trudel, a 16-year-old young man killed in November 2021.

Searches and another arrest

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, dozens of Montreal patrol officers had searched a large wooded area in eastern Montreal in the hope of locating the weapon used to kill Meriem Boundaoui. They searched the entire area near Boulevard Gouin Est, under the Charles-de-Gaulle bridge, using metal detectors and a dog handler. An SPVM research vessel was also carrying out searches, with officers on board, along the Rivière des Prairies.

Salim Touaibi, a 26-year-old man, was also charged on Monday with the first degree murder of the girl and the attempted murder of four other people who were at the scene when the crime was committed. The case has been adjourned to July 22.

Meriem Boundaoui, originally from Algeria, who was in Quebec to study and who lived with her sister in La Prairie, was shot dead on February 7, 2021. She was with a friend, a passenger in a car immobilized in the parking lot of a bakery on rue Jean-Talon, in the borough of Saint-Léonard, when the crime occurred. At that moment, three projectiles went through the window of the car she was in before hitting her in the head.

With Daniel Renaud, The Press