An 18-year-old man was arrested Friday by senior investigators from the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) in connection with the murder of a 55-year-old man the day before in a downtown home. from Montreal, La Presse learned.
Published yesterday at 9:52 p.m.
The suspect was charged with first-degree murder at the Montreal courthouse on Friday evening, SPVM spokeswoman Sabrina Gauthier confirmed. According to our information, it is Moustkima Hassani, who has no criminal record. He was arrested on Highway 25.
So-called “extraordinary” appearances take place outside of regular court hours because a suspect is required to appear within 24 hours of his or her arrest.
According to our information, the victim, Arthur Ketikyan, was stabbed to death – his body had several signs of violence when police discovered it. The man had a criminal record, although this was not known in police circles. The motive for the crime was unknown at the time of writing.
The Montreal police department initially deemed the death “suspicious” before classifying the case as a murder – the 31st to occur in the metropolis this year.
The SPVM’s Major Crimes Unit made this arrest less than 48 hours after the crimes with which Mr. Hassani was accused. This week it was thrown into uproar after the Journal de Montréal reported on certain police mistakes.
The daily announced Wednesday that the department has arrested and released a man it believes was the perpetrator of the arson that killed seven people in Old Montreal on March 16 because an investigator allegedly improperly obtained evidence had.