CTV.ca | Police allege suicide pact led to Quebec deaths
Police allege suicide pact led to Quebec deaths
Updated Sat. Jan. 3 2009 6:55 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A Quebec woman is facing multiple first-degree murder charges in connection to an alleged suicide pact that left her husband and three children dead.
Police claim the 36-year-old woman and her husband, 46, planned to kill their three children and then commit suicide together.
But late Thursday night, police say the woman made a frantic 911 call which brought emergency crews to the family's bungalow, located in Saguenay, Que., about 450 kilometres northwest of Montreal.
Inside the home, officers found the dead bodies of the woman's husband, Marc Laliberte, and their three children: Joelle Laliberte, 12; Marc-Andre Laliberte, seven; and Louis-Philippe Laliberte, four.
Police haven't said how the children died, but they say the woman -- who is in a Saguenay hospital recovering from unspecified injuries -- allegedly played a part in their deaths.
An autopsy on the bodies is set for Monday or Tuesday, and the mother could also appear in court on Monday, said Sgt. Richard Gagne of Quebec provincial police.
Police said that the bodies of the deceased did not contain any wounds, meaning they may have died from suffocation or poisoning.
"We can confirm that the bodies of the children did not seem to have any marks of violence," said Quebec provincial police Sgt. Gregory Gomez del Prado.
Marc Laliberte was recently laid off from his real estate job; the company he worked for had removed his profile from their website, according to The Canadian Press.
Police have also said that the crime scene was so gruesome some officers had to be treated by a trauma specialist.
Neighbours said the family that lived in the home had only moved in about six months ago. But one resident, who did not want to be identified, said "we saw the children often" playing in the neighbourhood.
With files from The Canadian Press
