Police in Gatineau, Que., have charged a 28-year-old man with three counts of first-degree murder on Friday, following the deaths of his estranged partner and her parents in a home the four shared together.
Claude Levesque, 58, his wife Louise LeBoeuf, 63, and her daughter, 21-year-old Anne-Catherine Powers, were found dead on Thursday inside a posh home at 64 Rue Felix-Leclerc in Aylmer, across the river from Ottawa.
Police said on Friday that the three victims were found with injuries inflicted by a sharp weapon after officers responded to a 911 call from the affluent neighbourhood Thursday afternoon.
Shakti Ramsurrun, 28, was arrested on Thursday at a nearby private golf club where he worked, according to police. He was holding his 15-month-old child when officers arrived to take him into custody. The child was unharmed.
According to friends, the couple met on a cruise back in 2009. Ramsurrun was a waiter; Powers was on a family vacation.
A year later, they married and lived in his native Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa. When their son Aryan was born, the couple moved to Canada. Friends say that's when things began to unravel.
"I know it was tough for him to be here because it's such a different place," Virginie Lamaute, a friend of Powers told CTV Ottawa.
About a month ago, Powers confided to her friends that she planned to divorce her husband. At the time they were both living at her parents' house.
In an email, Powers told a friend: "We are too different. I definitely think he would be better off on his island."
Police said that Ramsurrun had been a legal resident of Canada since December.
As part of the investigation, police searched a minivan found near the scene. It was left parked with its rear hatch open, exposing piles of children's toys and luggage.
The bodies were taken to Montreal for an autopsy, police said.
Ramsurrun made a brief court appearance on Friday and is expected back in court next week.
