Boucherville deaths and Terrebonne shooting linked to $1.2M lawsuit
One of the three men found dead in Boucherville, Que.,on Friday had filed a $1.2-million lawsuit against a man shot and injured in Terrebonne a day earlier, court documents show.
The bodies of Michel Dubuc and his two adult sons, Jérémie and Gabriel, were found in a Boucherville home on Montreal's South Shore. Dubuc was involved in a failed business venture with his longtime lawyer Benoît Côté, one of two people seriously wounded in the Terrebonne shooting, according to the documents.
In 2013, Dubuc launched a $1.2-million lawsuit against Côté and two other people, alleging that Côté negotiated a deal for Dubuc to loan $500,000 to businesspeople who were hoping to buy a bar in Montreal's Gay Village called Le Drugstore.
The lawsuit alleges that Côté stood to benefit personally from the deal, but never divulged that fact to Dubuc. When the deal went sour, Dubuc sued Côté and the two businesspeople, alleging professional misconduct.
Côté and the other defendants have not yet filed a statement of defence in the case, and Côté's lawyer couldn't be reached for comment.
The most recent court date in the case was last Monday.
2 incidents connected, police say
Quebec provincial police said the Boucherville deaths and the shooting at the Terrebonne law office are linked, though the investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid.
"What we can say at this point is that there's a relation between the crime scene in Terrebonne and the one in Boucherville," said Geneviève Asselin of the Sûreté du Québec.
Côté, a lawyer in his 50s, along with a woman in her 30s, suffered serious injuries after a suspect opened fire inside of the Côté-Gosselin law office in Terrebonne, on Montreal's North Shore.
The shooting happened on Thursday around 5:30 p.m. ET on Montée des Pionniers, next to the Pierre-Le Gardeur Hospital.
On Friday morning, police officers on Montreal's South Shore were asked to go to Dubuc's home on De Blois Street in Boucherville by a concerned friend or relative.
Officers found the bodies of Dubuc and his adult sons inside the home.
There was also a fire in the master bedroom that appeared to have been set with the use of an accelerant. Firefighters quickly put out the fire, and police confirmed the presence of the three bodies.
Police said there were firearms in the house and they believe two of the people inside may have been shot.
Police explain possible links
At a news conference held by police on Friday afternoon, a spokeswoman said one of the three men found dead inside the Boucherville home had left the house for a period of time on Thursday evening.
When he returned, he appears to have committed suicide, police said.
Neighbours said Michel Dubuc lived in the home and had resided in the area for a number of years.
They said he mostly kept to himself, and that his two sons, both in their early 20s, did not live with him.
