CANADA • Florence, 18 months old & Zacharie, 9 LAMPRON-HOULE ~ Drummondville QC

Three children burned, father missing
May 2, 2011



An SQ helicopter and police officers are continuing to search for a suspect who may have killed his children.

Two very young children died in a burning van in St-Edmond de Grantham this morning. That's about 15 kilometres away from Drummondville.

Propane tanks were found inside the mini-van.

A third child, under 10, survived and was transported to Montreal's St. Justine hospital.

At this point provincial police won't confirm what happened, only saying investigators are on scene.

It's suspected they're hunting for the father who may be hiding in the bush.

Reports say he was going through a divorce.

http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNewsEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10232836

2 killed in suspicious Quebec truck fire
May 2, 2011


The burnt-out truck was found on a rural road outside Drummondville, Que. (Kristin Falcao/CBC)

Two people were killed and two others critically injured in a suspicious early morning truck fire on the outskirts of Drummondville, in central Quebec.

Police were called to a residence in Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham just before 9 a.m. Monday, where they found a torched pickup truck.

"To our surprise, there were actually two bodies still in it," said Quebec police spokesman Louis-Philippe Ruel. "Those people are not yet identified. We're still waiting for the detectives to get legal permission to do so."

A child was found near the vehicle and is recovering in a Montreal hospital, Ruel said. Another victim, believed to be an adult, was also taken to hospital.

Police termed the fire suspicious and said investigators were searching the region.

The truck was parked next to a home that was damaged by the fire.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/05/02/truck-fire-in-quebec-kills-two-people.html

SQ unable to question boy, 6, in burning deaths
Reports suggest father fled grisly scene
May 2, 2011


Police officers gather at the scene where two children were found burned to death in a minivan on Monday in St. Edmond de Grantham.

Investigators from the major-crimes squad of the Sûreté du Québec Monday night hadn’t yet been able to question a 6-year-old boy who sustained “serious burns” after two bodies were found burned beyond recognition around 9 a.m. in a torched pickup truck in rural Quebec, Sgt. Louis-Philippe Ruel of the SQ said Monday night.

He refused to confirm, “because of the state of the remains,” multiple reports that the two bodies were of young children.

The grisly deaths took place in St. Edmond de Grantham, near Drummondville, about 105 kilometres northeast of Montreal. The bodies were found in the burned-out vehicle, which also contained two propane tanks, near a sugar shack on Rural Road 8.

Ruel would not confirm reports that the father had been with the children, had fled the scene and was in divorce proceedings.

When first aid arrived, he said, “they found the boy near the truck.”

The youngster had sustained burns to his upper body. “I was told it was to his arms and his face,” he said.

The burns were either of second- or third-degree, he suggested, but “we are not in fear for the boy’s life.”

The SQ cordoned off “several square kilometres” of woods and “many agricultural fields,” he said, and brought in a sniffer dog and a helicopter along with as many as two dozen officers.

No suspect had been detained by nightfall, he said. However, the security perimeter was to be monitored overnight, and “we will resume the operation at first light” Tuesday.

Asked whether the mother had been contacted, Ruel would say only that “we are in contact with the family of the young boy we found.”

As for the question of whether a marriage breakup was behind the horrific chain of events, “we are not at that point yet in our investigation, not at all,” Ruel said.

He acknowledged, however, that “many people are talking about a lot of things.”

The boy was taken to Montreal for treatment, Ruel said, refusing to confirm the youngster was in the burn unit at Ste. Justine Hospital.

“The investigation is continuing. We want to understand what happened,” Ruel said. “The state of the bodies has not yet allowed us to confirm the ages of those in the vehicle.”

The burned-out pickup truck “will likely be moved tonight,” he added.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/montreal/children+burned+death+near+Drummondville+report/4710292/story.html

Body of man identified as father of dead kids
May 4, 2011


A police helicopter circles the area of a residence in St Edmond de Grantham, QC,
that is the scene where two bodies were found burned to death in a pick-up truck on Monday, May 2, 2011

A year ago, Annie Lampron was a rural Quebec mother of three who, during a seminar with victims of crime, delivered a personal testimonial about dealing with family violence.

On Monday morning she suffered a trauma unimaginable for any parent.

Two of her children - Zacharie, 9, and Florence, 18 months - died in a burning vehicle about 9 a.m. near Drummondville, to all appearances at the hands of their father, Martin Houle.

Only the middle child, Antoine, 6, survived by escaping the flaming pickup truck.

On Tuesday, as Antoine remained in the burn unit of Ste. Justine Hospital, court records emerged documenting a lengthy familycourt battle between Lampron and Houle over childcustody issues as well as support payments.

The barest of administrative details take seven printed pages to list hearings, mediation sessions, affidavits, revenue records and other exhibits.

Houle was granted legal custody of the three youngsters over a year ago. The circumstances remain unclear. Such details are usually barred from public disclosure.

The boy and his sister met their horrifying ends in the cab of Houle's pickup truck.

Two propane tanks were used to fuel an intense blaze after Houle's van was parked near a sugar shack. The property, belonging to his side of the divided family, is about 105 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

The inferno burned Zacharie and Florence to death.

Houle's body was found about noon Tuesday, Sgt. Louis-Philippe Ruel of the Sûreté du Québec said, in a wooded area about one kilometre away.

Although Houle's body also showed signs of burns, "it will be up to the coroner" to determine his cause of death, Ruel said.

The search for Houle around St. Edmond de Grantham, near Drummondville, had mobilized at least two dozen officers, an SQ helicopter and a canine unit.

Between 1993 and 2003, "37 per cent of solved homicide cases in Canada were perpetrated in a family context," Université de Montréal criminologist Maurice Cusson counselled in a 2006 study of possible preventive measures. "Family homicide cannot be dissociated from non-fatal family violence," he added. "The fatal action is often the culminating point of a series of violent episodes."

Sophie Bergeron is general manager of Centre d'aide aux victimes d'actes criminels (CAVAC) du Centre-du-Québec, where Lampron participated in that year-ago seminar.

Bergeron couldn't be reached to provide context to a report that Lampron had recounted in a working group that she'd lost custody of Zacharie, Antoine and the newborn Florence to Houle after complaining of conjugal violence.

Houle had earlier called in Quebec's Direction de la protection de la jeunesse. Lampron told the group she'd shared her fear with a social worker that Houle was a risk to kill their kids before killing himself.

The grieving Lampron remains "in constant contact with investigators," Ruel said. He wouldn't say whether the SQ had ever been called in for family-violence issues involving Lampron and Houle.

"I can't go into that."

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Body+identified+father+dead+kids/4715026/story.html