MONTREAL -- A Montreal man accused of the first-degree murder of his father in 2018 was in court Tuesday, facing allegations he stabbed his father 32 times, and then expressed love for him in an email.

The complex case is being heard by a jury at the Montreal courthouse.

A 23-year-old Lachine resident Jeremie Fortier-Grenier was estranged from his father Richard Fortier for at least a year when he suggested they get together to patch things up.

They did get together, but Richard Grenier never returned home, and his wife testified she got nervous when she saw a message pop up on her husband's computer. It was from Fortier-Grenier, telling his father, "I love you Dad, glad we saw each other, hope we can see each other again soon."

She told the court she then called police.

Grenier’s wife, Tania Hamon, testified she was extremely worried because her husband couldn’t be found.

A security guard also testified that earlier that same night, he saw the son covered in blood, carrying something heavy out of his trunk.

The guard said Fortier-Grenier explained he was dirty because he had just finished his night shift. The guard observed him from afar and wrote down the licence plate, registered under the father’s name.

Grenier's body was found the next morning in a nearby ditch, behind an industrial building in St-Laurent's Technopark.

A police officer testified that investigators quickly focused their search on the son, based on the information gathered for the security guard and Grenier’s wife.

Grenier was found the next day at his father's cottage near Mont-Laurier. The officer also said they found blood on Richard Grenier’s car, adding his son's blood-soaked clothes were also found inside.

The motive isn't clear, but friends of Fortier-Grenier were told his father had died in a war, and he was about to go to the notary to inherit his cottage on the same day his father was murdered.

On Tuesday afternoon, the jury began listening to a four-hour-long deposition to police where investigators can be heard trying to get the young man to speak.

The jury is expected to hear the conclusion on Wednesday.