Man charged with second-degree murder after woman fatally stabbed near Montreal

A 53-year-old man was charged with second-degree murder on Monday in the stabbing death of his spouse on Montreal's South Shore.

The man appeared at the Longueuil courthouse to formally face the charge in the killing of a 51-year-old woman. The names of the accused and the victim are shielded by a temporary publication ban, which will be challenged by representatives of the media on Tuesday when the case is due back in court, according to the Crown prosecutor's office. 

The accused, in the meantime, remains in custody. 

Richelieu-Saint-Laurent police received a 911 call at 11:30 p.m. Sunday about the incident in a house on Ménard Street near Principale Street in Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Que.

According to police spokesperson Jean-Luc Tremblay, the woman's two children were in the home at the time of the stabbing and one of them called 911.

The woman was transported to hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. The accused was arrested on site.

"They seemed to have been living together. They were together for a certain amount of time," Tremblay said. "We're speaking about a domestic incident."

Police say they were expected to interview the two children, one of whom is a teenager and the other a young adult. 

"They did not have a link with the man," said Tremblay.

Investigators and forensic technicians were also on site Monday to determine the events leading up to the death.

Neighbours were struggling to understand how the killing could have happened in their community.

"I was dumbfounded," one neighbour told CTV News. "We're so sad about this. It's just gut-wrenching for us."

Quebec's association of women's shelters says this is part of an alarming trend of violence against women and that children often pay a heavy price.

Louise Riendeau, the political affairs coordinator of the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, said she sees children in shelters who jump at the slightest noise and have nightmares. Domestic violence affects all children, she said, no matter their age.

With files from CTV Montreal's Denise Roberts

SUPPORT NETWORK

Victims of domestic violence can contact SOS violence conjugale at 1-800-363-9010.

Other resources:

• Federation des Maisons d'Hebergement pour Femmes
• Shield of Athena
• Espace Sans Violence
• Regroupement des Maisons Pour Femmes Victimes de Violence Conjugale
• Centre de Solidarite Lesbienne