Murders in Montreal in 2023 | Multiple-victim crimes increase death toll

An arson attack which left seven dead in Old Montreal, a young man who killed his two parents and his grandmother, a man who murdered his daughter and her partner before killing himself: had it not been these crimes which left 12 dead alone, the number of murder victims would have decreased significantly in 2023 in Montreal, compared to last year.

In interview with The Press for his traditional end-of-year report, the Major Crimes Commander of the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), Jean-Sébastien Caron, indicated that 33 murder victims had been recorded as of December 18, compared to 41 for all of last year.

We therefore record eight fewer victims than in 2022, but it is especially with regard to the number of files that the drop is notable: throughout last year, SPVM investigators opened 38 murder files, compared to to 22 this year (as of December 18). This represents a drop of 42%.

“It’s a good reduction. If we still have 33 victims, it is due to the fire in Old Montreal, a triple murder, a double murder and the assassinations of Patricia Ferguson and Odna Daudier, which occurred respectively in 1996 and 2022, but which we elucidated this year. Without these multiple victims or these crimes committed in a previous year, we would have returned in 2023 close to the statistics from the end of the 2010s,” explains Commander Caron.

Another observation this year: the number of murders committed with firearms has decreased considerably.

“We went from 20 firearm murder events last year to nine this year, half as many. This corresponds to the drop in firearm discharge events, all types combined, occurring in Montreal in 2023, compared to 2022,” he adds.

Claudia Iacono should not have been killed

Of these nine gun homicides this year, six are linked to street gangs and two to traditional organized crime.

The latter two are the assassinations of Francesco Del Balso, which occurred on June 5, and Claudia Iacono, committed on May 16. The latter was the spouse of an individual linked to the Montreal mafia, Anthony Gallo, and Commander Jean-Sébastien Caron confirmed to The Press that there had been a mistake about the person and that it was not M^me Iacono who was the target that day.

According to the latter, two murders linked to traditional organized crime are few compared to certain previous years, especially since 2023 was marked by tensions between high-level criminal groups.

He believes that the major investigation by the SPVM and the Sûreté du Québec underway since last year into the revelations of a former organized crime hitman turned informer, Frédérick Silva, could explain, at least in part, this situation. .

” There is a lot of people [du milieu criminel] who are waiting and wanting to see what we have. There are two who have died in recent weeks, Gregory Woolley and Samy Tamouro. All this creates uncertainty and the community is eager to know what it is,” summarizes Jean-Sébastien Caron.

Three family dramas at the start of the year

Apart from the two murders solved this year but committed in 1996 and 2022, no homicide committed in a domestic context has been recorded in Montreal in 2023.

On the other hand, seven people, including five women and a 12-year-old girl, were murdered in an intra-family context. Five of these seven people are a grandmother, a father and three mothers killed in the first three homicide cases of the year.

The investigation which continues into the fire which left seven dead in Old Montreal, the murder of Patricia Ferguson committed in 1996, the assassination of Claudia Iacono and that of Khaled Mouloudj, committed in March in a context of conflict between street gangs, are the files that required the most work hours and staff this year.

Investigators have also been busy in court: they have been assigned to 25 trials and preliminary inquiries this year, all of them won except for one trial which aborted and will have to be restarted.

“We are happy. This demonstrates the quality of the work that is done, both here and there. [Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales]. It is rare that we go through so many trials and preliminary investigations in the same year, and that the results are so positive. We often hear that murder investigations take a long time, but we have to go through all the evidence. At least, when we arrive at court, we have positive results,” concludes Mr. Caron.

To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.