Former FLQ member Francis Simard dead of aneurysm

There are multiple reports that former FLQ member Francis Simard died on Saturday of an aneurysm in his home.

Simard was 67 years old. Originally from Abitibi-Temiscamingue, he was a member of the FLQ, along with brothers Paul and Jacques Rose and Bernard Lortie.

This group was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Provincial Cabinet Minister Pierre Laporte during the October Crisis in 1970.

Paul Rose, who died in March 2013, his brother Jacques and Francis Simard were arrested in Saint-Luc, in Montérégie, during an intense manhunt. They were holed up in a basement of a house.

During his trial in 1971, Simard received a life sentence, and was released with conditions in 1982. He’s been rarely seen in public since then.

Simard wrote a book about the events of the October Crisis, titled “Pour en finir avec Octobre.”