Overwhelmed relatives, a neighborhood in shock and a crime scene worthy of a horror movie: the day after the triple murder that shakes a quiet street in the Rosemont district of Montreal, those around you face tragedy.
Bouquets of flowers began to pile up Saturday afternoon in front of this duplex on rue Bélanger, in Montreal, located between rue Viau and 40e Ave. They are carried by relatives in tears, shaken. And by neighbors who had known the family for decades.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
People gathered on Saturday at the scene of the tragedy.
The day before, a 19-year-old young man, Arthur Galarneau, allegedly stabbed his mother, father and grandmother to death in this same building. He was charged Saturday morning before the Court of Quebec with the unpremeditated murders of three people, namely Mylène Gingras, 53, Richard Galarneau, 53, and Francine Gingras-Boucher, 75.
According to our information, the young man would have mental health and consumption problems. On Friday, a friend of his told The Press that Mr. Galarneau’s publications on social networks had taken a paranoid turn in recent weeks1.
To try to understand
The neighborhood is stunned by the tragedy that decimated a seemingly happy family in a matter of hours.
“I can’t stop thinking about it, about what happened,” said Filomena Parisi, owner for fifty years of the building adjacent to the one where the killing took place, by the backyard. “In the summer, they had barbecues, we too, we talked a lot, she adds. »
I wonder what happened.
Filomena Parisi, neighbor
The duplex where Arthur Galarneau would have lived since his childhood, and where he would have murdered his family, had recently been put up for sale. Francine Gingras-Boucher, grandmother of the accused and owner of the building, had been considering this sale since last summer, explained Ms.me Parisi. “She wanted to move to the Olympic Stadium,” she recalls. She said she was going to help them [sa fille Mylène Gingras, qui habitait à l’étage, et son petit-fils Arthur, qui habitait au sous-sol] to find another place. »
A friend of the family, joined by The Press via social media on Saturday, also described a close-knit and loving family. “Arthur was very well surrounded by parents and an extended family who loved him terribly. He was the center of Mylène and Richard’s life. We try to understand,” he said. “We are all appalled and really affected. »
A scene for all to see
On site Saturday, the shock was almost palpable. Approaching the building – a pretty gray brick house with a red roof – you could already see blood splatters in the windows that frame the front door.
On Friday, the arrest of Arthur Galarneau, covered in blood, in front of the building went viral on social networks.
La scène du crime à l’intérieur de l’immeuble, visible par la fenêtre, est particulièrement troublante : traînées de sang sur les murs et le plancher, pantoufles blanches devenues roses abandonnées devant la fenêtre, tapis imbibés de sang…
« C’est trop douloureux »
Plusieurs voisins immédiats ont préféré ne pas s’entretenir avec La Presse. « C’est trop douloureux », a laissé tomber une voisine d’un immeuble adjacent, sur le pas de sa porte.
Un autre a tout vu par sa fenêtre : l’arrestation et la présence d’un corps. Les images le hantent, a-t-il expliqué, préférant s’abstenir de commenter l’évènement.
« C’est vraiment bouleversant », a dit Adrasse Olguine, résidante d’un immeuble situé tout près du lieu du drame. En compagnie de ses propres enfants, la mère de famille a été d’autant plus choquée en apprenant les détails de l’histoire.
« Avant, je marchais sans crainte dans la rue, mais maintenant je sens que je dois faire attention aux voitures, et maintenant aux piétons », a aussi affirmé, visiblement émue, Naima Arfaoui, une résidante du quartier.
Pour Geneviève Hébert, une autre voisine qui habite à environ 300 mètres du duplex où s’est produit le drame, la santé mentale doit être priorisée. « Il faut que la santé mentale soit prise en charge collectivement, qu’il n’y ait plus de tabou », a lancé celle qui dit avoir déjà souffert elle-même de difficultés psychologiques. « Je peux comprendre à quel point [l’accusé] was in pain and how he could have tripped. But it’s heavy, I didn’t think that news like that could affect me so much. »
Arthur Galarneau had no criminal record according to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal. He will be back in court on April 11.
five murders ins conditionss similar to Montreal in 2023
The Bélanger Street murders are the third, fourth and fifth homicides in Montreal in 2023.
According to our information, these five murders which occurred in Montreal in 2023 were all allegedly committed by young people suspected or accused of having stabbed a member of their family.