Old Montreal fire that killed 7 now investigated as homicide, police say
The Old Montreal fire that killed seven people in March is now being investigated as a homicide.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal is expected to announce that major crimes investigators have taken over the investigation at an afternoon news conference on Monday, according to Radio-Canada.
The shift in the investigation means that police could lay murder charges.
Seven people, most of them staying in illegal short-term rentals, died in the fire.
The fire gutted the building, which was located on Place D'Youville, near the heart of Old Montreal, and raised concerns about illegal rental units.
A CBC report following the fire found that, prior to going up in flames, the building was considered a "fire trap" by worried renters.
Inspectors had flagged a number of fire safety violations at the building, which is owned by Emile Benamor, including a lack of smoke detectors and problems with its fire escape.
But Alexandre Bergevin, Benamor's lawyer, said in an interview on Monday that the criminal investigation into the fire was good news for his client because it showed that someone else was to blame.
"What's important about it, finally, is that my client was seen in the media as being responsible for this fire," he said. "But what we're learning now is that there was another cause. It was a criminal fire committed by someone else who has no connection with my client."
More to come
