Garbage collectors were stunned while emptying a garbage can into their truck’s dumpster in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montreal, on Monday morning when they saw the body of a man. The case is being treated as a homicide.
The team in charge of collecting recycling in the area made the gruesome discovery when, at around 8:50 a.m., they attempted to unload a wheeled rubbish bin bound for a grocery store on the corner of Rue Adam and Avenue Letourneux belonged.
• Also read: District Hochelaga-Maisonneuve: A body found in a dustbin
A Matrec employee then quickly alerted the police.
It is not known how long the body was in the dustbin, but the man, in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim had still not been identified by authorities as of Monday evening.
Photo agency QMI, Maxime Deland
However, the body showed obvious signs of violence, so that the file is now considered a homicide.
The investigation was transferred to the Montreal Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit.
Forensic scientists were still busy finding possible leads by the end of the day Monday, particularly inside the truck’s dumpster.
A neighbor looked out his window overlooking the intersection and saw the body of a man with tattoos on his neck wrapped in a quilted blanket.
“That’s not reassuring,” says the man who moved into this building a few weeks ago.
Screenshot, TVA Nouvelles
Chloe Picard. Neighbor
Her neighbor Chloé Picard also saw the body lying in the recycling truck.
“Right below my window, I didn’t expect that at all,” says the criminology student.
“As soon as I saw the body, I had the impression that it wasn’t an accident,” she continues.
When he found out what had happened a few doors down from his home, Dany Tremblay was upset.
“It’s a lot, a dead man near us. I break down […] I want to move,” he says.
The truck’s refuse collectors, who declined to speak to the media, were shaken by the events.
“You are in shock. If they need help, we’ll take care of it,” specifies Richard Mimeau, Quebec Regional Director of GFL Environnement, owner of Matrec.
According to Mr. Mimeau, such a discovery is very unusual in the field of residue collection in Quebec.
This is the 18th murder this year in Montreal.
On July 29, a thirty-year-old man was stabbed to death on the same street corner after a conflict escalated.
Do you have any information about this story that you would like to share with us?
Do you have a scoop that might be of interest to our readers?