2 brothers plead guilty to keeping Inuk woman's body in their Montreal home for 6 months
CBC
WARNING: This story contains graphic details of malady and death.
Two Montreal brothers have each pleaded guilty to one count of indignity to a corpse and admitted that they kept the remains of an Indigenous woman on their couch for six months.
Alasie Tukkiapik, an Inuk woman from Kangiqsujuaq in Nunavik, was found dead in September 2023 in the two men's residence in the Montréal-Nord borough. The 41-year-old woman had been missing for several months.
Two separate statements of facts accepted by each brother were filed at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday afternoon.
The statements say the victim's family went to Kangiqsujuaq police on Sept. 18, 2023, to report her missing. They informed the police that she was in a relationship with someone named "Frank" and provided the man's address.
The family explained to police that people went to the man's house three different times to see Tukkiapik, but he would not let him. The file was sent to the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and officers went to the home, but no one answered.
After speaking with neighbours, they learned Tukkiapik had been living with the men, brothers Francesco Sansalone, 63, and Nicodemo Sansalone, 61.
Finally, officers saw Nicodemo exiting the home and confronted him about the missing woman. He told the police she was dead, and officers went into his home.
"Immediately, upon entering, the officers noticed a strong smell of a dead body," Nicodemo's statement of facts says. "The house was a complete mess and was in unsanitary conditions."
Officers noticed the shape of a human on the couch, covered by a blanket. Underneath the blanket, they found the body. Nicodemo was placed under arrest, and he immediately began telling police he feared the woman's family — thinking her brother would kill him.
He also admitted the body had been there since around Feb. 12.
On Oct. 19, 2023, Francesco was arrested at the Atwater shopping mall. Investigators had been searching for him, checking shelters and other resources for the unhoused he was known to frequent.
Police learned Francesco and Tukkiapik had been living together for many years. They moved into the family house a few years ago, staying there on and off.
In his statement of facts, Francesco said he first met Tukkiapik 10 years before and "he loved her very much, only second to God."
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