Man who killed Olympic swimmer Victor Davis charged in another death

CTV Montreal: New charge The 46-year-old man who was found responsible for the death of Victor Davis is now facing manslaughter charges in another man’s death.

The 46-year-old man who was found responsible for the death of Olympic swimmer Victor Davis is now facing manslaughter charges in connection with another man’s death.

Glen Crossley has been charged with manslaughter in the death of Albert Arsenault, 70, who fell down a flight of stairs at a bar on Newman Blvd. in LaSalle on Sept. 17 and died the next day.

His death was initially ruled an accident, but police later decided otherwise in part because of the work done by Arsenault's son, who watched surveillance video taken inside the bar which showed another man pushing his father -- and then showed it to police.

Officers then obtained a warrant for the arrest of Glenn Crossley, 46, who turned himself in on Monday after learning he was wanted.

Crossley was charged Tuesday afternoon via videoconference in Arsenault's death. The Crown objected to Crossley's release, so a bail hearing will be held Wednesday morning to determine if he will be released pending trial.

Rachel Arsenault said her family is still struggling to cope with her father's death.

"It's terrible. It's not something you can explain. It's something you have to learn to live with I guess," she said, adding that her father was happy and in good shape on the day of his death.

"It's really hard for the whole family. His mom is still alive and he has a brother, a sister, my kids, my brother, my mom. So it's hard for everybody," she said. “He was well known. All the neighbours loved him. He would cut the grass for all the neighbours. He was a great guy.”

Arsenault’s family was initially told it was an accident, but Arsenault’s son said he saw something different when he viewed the security footage.

“A guy who was there just jumped on him for no reason,” Rachel Arsenault alleges. “He jumped on him. He caused his fall.”

In 1992 Crossley was sentenced to 10 months in jail for failing to stop at the scene of the crash that killed Olympic swimmer Victor Davis.

Davis, 24, was run down by Crossley's car in Ste. Anne de Bellevue in 1989, and he died two days later.

“I'm not surprised,” said Mel Davis, the Olympian’s father. “They always said it was a bottle thrown at the windshield and turns out it wasn't a bottle – it was Victor's head.”

Crossley was released from jail after serving four months.

“Quite a number of people were really disappointed with what happened,” said Davis of the time served.

With Arsenault's death now declared a criminal homicide, that brings the number of people killed on the island of Montreal in 2016 to 25.