What initially looked like a bar fire appears to be a murder.
At around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, an intense fire raged through Bar 239 in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, 100 km north of Montreal.
22-year old Chloe Bellehumeur-Lemay was a barmaid at the restaurant and had a three-year old daughter.
Her body was found inside the building.
Firefighters attempted CPR, but were unsuccessful and she died on the scene.
Afterwards, they noticed signs of violence on her body, leading police to believe that the fire was started to cover up a murder.
“What I can tell is those injuries were not matching with the death with someone who suffocated in a fire,” said Stephanie Tremblay of the SQ.
On Monday, a 52-year old man was arrested by a SWAT team.
He’s expected to appear in court in the coming days.
People in the town were shocked by the tragedy.
“My wife heard some loud noises, outside and she woke up and then she woke and then she heard the sirens,” said Nikolaos Polychronis, the manager of the restaurant next to the bar.
“It's really unfortunate what happened, especially in a peaceful village like this, because we don't have incidents like this.”
Police are still investigating to determine if the victim and suspect knew each other.
