MONTREAL — Two men, aged 18 and 20, were arrested on Friday in connection with an Old Montreal fire last week that claimed the lives of a mother and daughter from France, police said.
Cmdr. Jean-Sébastien Caron said the 20-year-old is suspected of throwing an incendiary device into the building on Oct. 4, starting a fire that quickly spread from the ground floor to the upper two levels where there was a hostel. Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud Geraudie died in the blaze.
The 18-year-old suspect allegedly drove the getaway vehicle, Caron said. Both accused were known to police prior to their arrests on Friday, he said, but he would not elaborate on whether they were tied to any organized crime groups.
Nor would Caron say whether the suspected arson on the Notre-Dame Street East building is an example of the spate of extortion attempts that have made recent headlines. Earlier this week police said between 30 and 40 extortion cases were reported in the city over the summer, with some businesses set on fire as criminal groups fight over the downtown protection racket.
The investigation into last week's blaze is continuing, Caron said, as police want to find out who ordered the two men to set the Notre-Dame Street East building on fire. Without giving details, he said police know someone else is calling the shots, "and we want to get this person."
He said one suspect was arrested at home and another on the street, and that police were carrying out searches at their residences.
Both suspects are detained while Crown prosecutors study the file and decide on charges, which should come within the next 24 hours, he said.
"We treated this case as a murder case from the beginning," Insp. David Shane told reporters Friday. "But the decision (on charges) will be made by the prosecutor."
Police did not identify the suspects or their alleged motive.
They said that when fire broke out there were 25 people inside the building, which housed a restaurant and wine bar on the ground floor and a 19-room hostel above. Three people were injured, including one who Caron said was believed to still be in hospital.
The fire was the second deadly blaze in the historic neighbourhood in less than two years, after seven people were killed in a March 2023 fire in a building that housed short-term rentals.
City records list both buildings as belonging to the same owner — Emile Benamor — and police have said they suspect arson in both cases. Caron said Friday that Benamor is co-operating with the investigation into the fires.
Coroner's inquests have also been ordered for both fatal blazes, although the chief coroner said they may eventually be combined due to the similarities between the two cases.
Caron and Shane said more than 200 police officers were involved in the latest fire investigation.
Earlier this week, another building owned by Benamor in the same neighbourhood was hit by gunfire. Three people, including two teenagers, were arrested shortly after. Neither Caron nor Shane would say on Friday whether the three suspects are tied to the two men arrested for the Oct. 4 fire.
On Thursday, Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher pleaded with parents of youth being recruited by criminal gangs, telling them to be on the lookout for signs their children are being exploited. A day earlier, police announced that seven teens between the ages of 14 and 17 were arrested for allegedly being involved in numerous violent crimes including robbery, firearms offences, arson and extortion. On Tuesday, police arrested a 15-year-old boy for allegedly setting fire to a restaurant in the city’s east end last weekend.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press