MONTREAL -- Police in Gatineau say there is every reason to believe that domestic homicide was behind the discovery of two bodies found in the area over the weekend.
Gatineau police say it appears the deaths of a 55-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man in the Parc Riviera neighbourhood was the result of a murder-suicide.
The western Quebec police force said that at this stage of the investigation, they are not looking for any suspects.
Their bodies were found in home on 2nd Avenue Ouest on Saturday morning.
As of Monday morning, the crime scene remained protected by police officers. An autopsy is being performed on the bodies.
If it is deemed a murder-suicide, that would be the most recent in a spate of domestic homicides in Quebec. At least four men are suspected of killing their partners in the province since December.
- Earlier this month, Jael Cantin, 33, was found dead in a home in Mascouche. Her partner, Benoit Cardinal, has been charged with second-degree murder.
- In December, Dahia Khellaf, 42, and her two young sons, ages two and four, were found dead in their home in Pointe-aux-Trembles. Her husband died by suicide.
- Earlier in December, the body of Linda Lalonde, 48, was found in a home in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield after her husband turned himself in to the police.
- Montreal police believe Yvan Almodovar, 60, shot his partner Astrid Declerck, 48, inside a Sherbrooke St. home on the morning of Dec. 25.
On average, 12 women are killed by their partners each year in Quebec.
Across Canada, women made up between 76 and 80 per cent of the adult victims of the 662 cases recorded over a nine-year stretch between 2010 and 2019, according to Peter Jaffe, a Western University professor and co-leader of the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative.
His research showed that in about 10 per cent of domestic homicide cases, children are killed in the context of domestic violence when one parent, most often the father, kills the children as an act of revenge against a partner leaving the relationship, or as part of a murder-suicide.
- With a report from The Canadian Press
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If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, here are some available resources:
SOS violence conjugale (1-800-363-9010)
Your neighbourhood CLSC (Info-santé: 811)
Crime Victim Assistance Centre (1-866-532-2822)
Assistance aux femmes (514-270-8291)
Shield of Athena (514-274-8117 or 1-877-274-8117)
Find the nearest shelter at Women's Shelters Canada
If you need immediate assistance, call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.
