Retired Mountie gets life in prison for fatal western Quebec fire
A retired RCMP officer who was found guilty of second-degree murder after two people died in a fire in Val-des-Monts, Que., three years ago has been sentenced to life in prison.
Yvon Mercier must serve 14 years before being eligible for parole, according to the sentence handed down Wednesday at the courthouse in Gatineau, Que.
The bodies of 54-year-old Céline Labelle and her husband, 50-year-old Pierre Dupuis, were found inside the burned-out home on rue Mercier in February 2020.
Mercier, who retired from the RCMP in 2007 and was 69 at the time of his arrest, was the home's owner.
According to Labelle's niece, the couple had moved into a basement apartment on the property shortly before their deaths, while Mercier lived upstairs.
Documents obtained by Radio-Canada show Mercier had been in a dispute with the couple over unpaid rent and the termination of their lease.
Mercier was found guilty on the pair of second-degree murder charges on Feb. 23, 2023.
