Montreal brothers who kept Inuk woman's body on couch for 6 months avoid prison time
CBC
WARNING: This story contains graphic details of malady and death.
A Montreal man who kept the remains of an Inuk woman on his couch for six months was sentenced on Monday to 10 months detention to be served in the community.
Francesco Sansalone and his brother Nicodemo Sansalone pleaded guilty in May 2025 to committing an indignity to the corpse of Alasie Tukkiapik, a 41-year-old from Kangiqsujuaq in Nunavik.
Francesco’s sentence requires that he abide by numerous conditions while serving his sentence in the community.
Nicodemo was also sentenced on Monday. He was sentenced to three years probation, 50 hours of community service and 70 days of jail time already served.
Quebec court judge Pierre Labelle said Francesco's mental health issues were a contributing factor in the crime.
The brothers did not contact the authorities after Tukkiapik died at their home in February 2023. Tukkiapik and Francesco were in a relationship and she had been ill before her death, according to a statement of facts submitted to the court.
Instead, they continued to live together with her body on the couch, spraying air fresheners to cover the smell and avoiding the living room where she lay.
They said in the statement of facts that they didn’t report her death because they feared repercussions from Tukkiapik’s family.
Her family went searching for her, but the brothers would not let them into the house.
In September 2023, the family contacted police, who confronted Nicodemo at the brothers' home, where they 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.
They did not immediately find Franceso. Investigators searched for him, checking shelters and other resources for the unhoused he was known to frequent until, in October 2023, he was arrested at a shopping mall.
An autopsy was unable to determine the cause of Tukkiapik’s death due to the condition of her body. There were, however, multiple bandages and paper towels on her back and buttocks, beneath her clothes. Francesco had said she was bleeding from her buttocks before she died.
There was no visible lesion, nor sign of significant traumatic or pre-existing injury.
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