Murder charges for two men in connection with Old Montreal fire
Two men were charged with second-degree murder and arson on Saturday, a week after a fire ravaged an Old Montreal building, killing a mother and daughter from France.
The early morning blaze claimed the lives of Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud Geraudie.
The fire erupted on the ground floor of the building and spread to the upper two levels which housed a hostel. Police have said 25 people were in the building at the time of the Oct. 4 fire, which injured three others.
Justin Fortier-Trahan, 20, and Juventino Hernandez Pelaez, 18, appeared in court Saturday charged in the deaths.
They also face a charge of arson causing bodily harm in connection to another man, and recklessly endangering life by damaging a property by fire or explosion.
After their arrest Friday, Cmdr. Jean-Sébastien Caron said at a news conference that one was suspected of using "an incendiary object" to set fire to the building, while the second is accused of driving a getaway vehicle.
Caron said both suspects were known to police but would not elaborate.
In addition to the Oct. 4 fire in Old Montreal, Fortier-Trahan and Hernandez Pelaez have been charged with arson in connection to another fire that took place roughly two hours earlier at a building on Wellington Street in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough.
Police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils told The Canadian Press on Saturday that police were called about a fire on Wellington Street fire just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 4, shortly before the fire erupted at around 2:40 a.m. in Old Montreal that same morning.
City records show the Old Montreal building belongs to Emile Benamor, who also owns another building in the neighbourhood that caught fire in March 2023 when seven people died.
Chèvrefils would not say whom the building on Wellington Street belongs to.
Police said Benamor has been co-operating with the investigation into the fires.
Earlier this week, a third building owned by Benamor in the same historic Montreal neighbourhood was struck by gunfire. Three people, including two teenagers, were arrested.
Police have not said whether those suspects were linked to the fatal Oct. 4. fire.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Vancouver quietly proclaimed Chip Wilson Day as billionaire installed sign calling B.C. NDP 'communist'
On the same day Chip Wilson erected a controversial sign at his Vancouver mansion, the city was quietly honouring the billionaire and his wife.
'It’s a dream come true’: Holt, Liberal cabinet sworn-in to office
Susan Holt is set to be officially sworn-in as New Brunswick’s 35th premier Saturday afternoon.
Florida's convicted killer clown released from prison for the murder of her husband's then-wife
A woman who pleaded guilty to dressing as a clown and in 1990 murdering the wife of a man she later married was released from prison on Saturday.
India trashes Canada for linking home minister to Sikh activist plot
India officially protested on Saturday the Canadian government's allegation that the country's powerful home minister Amit Shah had ordered the targeting of Sikh activists inside Canada, calling it 'absurd and baseless.'
The impact of Trump's lies in Springfield, Ohio
Springfield, Ohio was once a manufacturing hub. Now, people know it for Trump's comments at September's presidential debate, when he famously - and falsely - told an audience of 67 million people that Haitians eat their pets, echoing claims that had circulated on social media.
Danielle Smith facing leadership review Saturday to close out UCP convention
Some 6,000 United Conservative Party members are in Red Deer for the party's annual convention and will cast their votes today on what they think of Premier Danielle Smith's leadership so far.
Man says it's 'surreal' that officials euthanized pet squirrel Peanut
A man who took in an orphaned squirrel and made it a social media star vowed Saturday that New York state's decision to seize and euthanize the animal 'won't go unheard.'
Here's what you can buy for $729,000 in 8 Ottawa neighbourhoods
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at what you can buy for the average Ottawa home price of $729,000 in eight Ottawa neighbourhoods.
Israeli forces capture senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, Israeli military official says
Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday.