A 32-year-old Montreal man is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend three years ago in Cote-des-Neiges.
Nellie Angutiguluk, an Inuk woman who had left her village in northern Quebec to seek a better life, was 29 when she died.
The mother of three left her children with relatives in the village of Puvirnituq so she could try life in the big city. Instead, in May 2015, she was found dead inside a Cote-des-Neiges apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Kwasi Benjamin.
He is now on trial for second-degree murder.
Prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos told the jury Wednesday that the couple argued a lot -- usually about money.
In video surveillance shown to the jury from inside a bar the night she died, Benjamin and Angutiguluk can be seen fighting. Police eventually helped the two return home, and another surveillance camera, inside their apartment building, showed Angutigulk alive for the last time.
A neighbour said he heard the two arguing during the night, again over money. The next morning, a camera showed Benjamin leaving for work. He returned to the apartment later that night, then at midnight, called 911 from a phone booth to say his girlfriend was breathing but wouldn't get up.
“My girlfriend, she went to sleep okay. And now I'm trying to wake her up. She's still breathing but she wouldn't get up,” he was heard saying in the 911 call.
A first responder and a paramedic examined the woman, but were unable to revive her. The paramedic quickly grew suspicious of Benjamin, and said his explanations were contradictory – that he had been speaking to the woman minutes before, and she was still standing up, yet her body was cold.
When a memorial was held for her a few weeks later, Benjamin arrived with a new girlfriend.
The prosecution believes Benjamin strangled Angutiguluk and tried to cover it up. They will seek to prove that in court.
The accused is represented by lawyer Paul Skolnick, who hasn’t yet said if his client plans to testify in his own defence.
