Could the death of little Norah and Romy Carpentier in the summer of 2020 have been avoided? The coroner Mand Sophie Régnière will look again at the case, in the light of the facts raised by the investigation of Radio-Canada on the question.
Posted at 4:58 p.m.
Updated at 5:28 p.m.
On March 10, the show Investigation, on Radio-Canada, published the report entitled “Carpentier Affair: on the trail of errors”. We learned in particular, from the mouths of police officers and ex-police officers, that serious errors had been made by the Sûreté du Québec during the events that led to the death of the girls and their father.
Recall that on July 8, 2020, Martin Carpentier, from Saint-Apollinaire, in the Lotbinière region, brought his two daughters to eat ice cream before vanishing. The bodies of Norah (11) and Romy (6) were found in the forest three days later. That of Martin Carpentier, who took his own life, was about ten kilometers further.
SÛRETÉ DU QUÉBEC ARCHIVES PHOTO PROVIDED TO THE CANADIAN PRESS
Martin Carpentier
On October 29, 2021, coroner Régnière filed her report stating that communication problems within the Sûreté du Québec and with medical and social services had harmed the research of the little Carpentiers.
After the broadcast of the program Enquête, the Coroner’s Office also received other information, which had not been transmitted to it initially. “All of these new elements lead the Chief Coroner, together with Coroner Mand Sophie Régnière, to rule on the need for further investigation,” announced Jake Lamotta Granato, communications manager for the Coroner’s Office, in a statement released Monday.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) will be mobilized to gather information and meet new witnesses. The SPVM is considered “neutral” and “independent” because it has not been involved in the case to date, the statement said.
As a result of the process, previous investigation reports may be amended, the statement details. Coroner Régnière could also recommend the opening of a public inquiry into the case.
Recall that according to the Law on the investigation of the causes and circumstances of death“coroners routinely intervene when a death occurs as a result of negligence or in obscure or violent circumstances,” the press release points out.