A 35-year-old woman is accused of disguising a murder as a suicide last week in the small community of Stukely-Sud in Estrie.
• Also read: Suspicious death in Stukely-Sud
According to a briefing document written in English, around October 14, Courtney Mentzel-Heath allegedly “deliberately attempted to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice.”
The 30-year-old appeared in court this weekend via video conference and remains in custody for the time being. She returns to court this Monday in Granby.
Recall that late on the morning of October 14, police were dispatched to a home on Robert-Savage Road where they discovered the body of a victim.
It was Stéphane Jodoin, 45 years old. His death was deemed “suspicious” by authorities.
The file was therefore referred to the Personal Crimes Unit of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) based on certain elements of the investigation.
The SQ said on Sunday it could not comment on Courtney Mentzel-Heath’s arrest.
The death of 45-year-old Stéphane Jodoin in Stukely-Sud in Estrie on October 14 was classified as suspicious by the Sûreté du Québec. Photo Facebook Stéphane Jodoin
Two arrests
Mathieu Normandin, 47, and Pamela Perreault, 29, were previously arrested in this case, the circumstances of which remain mysterious.
Currently, she has only been charged with drug possession.
Normandin, who has had troubles with the courts in the past, was arrested in 2015 at his home where he possessed 1,188 cannabis plants, earning him a one-year prison sentence.
Among other things, he cultivated them to pay off debts to “criminalized people,” a report before the verdict emphasized.
As for Perreault, she was also charged with drug possession in the past but was given a conditional discharge.
cocaine
The victim, Stéphane Jodoin, also had a checkered legal past.
Most recently, in January 2020, Granby police intercepted a vehicle in which he was a passenger.
The visibly drunk forty-year-old tried to escape on foot during the operation before he was caught by the officers. There were several arrest warrants against him at the time.
In his backpack we found “all the typical paraphernalia of a cocaine or other drug dealer, including appropriately divided substances” and, despite prohibitions, various knives, according to a verdict.
He was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
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