Quebec orders public inquiry into killings of two young sisters by their father

Warning -- This story contains details of violence that some may find disturbing

Quebec has ordered a public inquiry into the deaths of two young girls and their father in the summer of 2020. 

The father, Martin Carpentier, was the subject of a police manhunt after he allegedly kidnapped and later killed his two daughters Romy and Norah, aged 11 and six, on July 8, 2020.

Quebec provincial police said the event led them to change their Amber Alert practices following a coroner investigation which recommended an overhaul of the force's missing persons strategy. 

“Considering the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Norah and Romy Carpentier as well as their father, Martin Carpentier, a public inquiry will, I hope, shed light on this terrible tragedy," said Quebec Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault in a press release.

Guilbault requested Quebec's Chief Coroner, Pascale Descary, to order the unquiry Wednesday morning. 

WHAT HAPPENED?

Following her investigation last year, coroner Sophie Regniere concluded Martin Carpentier was going through a severe mental breakdown when the tragedy unfolded.

That evening, he took his two girls for ice cream. On his way home, he appeared to have intentionally crashed his car on Highway 20 in St-Apollinaire near Quebec City with his two girls on board.

They survived, but Carpentier fled in the woods with them. Police began their search hours later.

Officers from the Surete du Quebec (SQ) first thought the girls were not in danger, because their mother said the father was not the type who would hurt them. They later decided to treat the case as a possible crime after learning Carpentier was suffering from depression and had sent text messages indicating he was about to end his life.

The investigation later revealed the father, equipped with camping gear, spent the night in an empty camper in the woods with his daughters. The coroner wrote that Carpentier, a scout leader, was getting his girls to help him start a fire. Both were killed by a blow to the head with a blunt object.

The coroner said the SQ waited too long before issuing an Amber Alert. Investigators, she wrote, had all the elements in place to issue the alert at 6 a.m. the day after they went missing -- when the girls were likely still alive.

Instead, Police waited until 3 p.m.

It took several more days for police to find their bodies. The father hanged himself, and his body was only discovered two weeks later in the woods.

OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS RESPOND

Quebec Solidaire MNA Sol Zanetti told CTV News he applauds Minister Guilbault's request for an investigation, writing in a statement that he considers an inquiry to be a "common sense" thing to do. 

"According to several police officers, a tragedy like this was foreseeable and could have been avoided," he wrote. 

"A public inquiry is the least we can do to learn from the mistakes of the past."

With files from CTV News' Stephane Giroux and The Canadian Press