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2 slayings uncovered at Montreal hospital

Deaths deemed natural until third attack June 22

By: Andy Blatchford

Posted: 06/29/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

MONTREAL -- A Montreal hospital has come under intense scrutiny after two psychiatric patients were killed and a third patient was allegedly attacked in the course of several days.

The union representing health-care professionals at Notre-Dame Hospital says it warned management last year staffing cuts to the psychiatric department could have consequences.

"We're wondering whether there's a link between these cuts and these events," union president Guy Brochu said Thursday. When pressed, he could not immediately provide specific numbers on the staffing cuts.

"Could we have avoided (the deaths)?"

Two male patients -- aged 69 and 77 -- were killed by asphyxiation in the psychiatric ward on June 16 and June 21.

One day after the second death, a 71-year-old female patient was allegedly assaulted in the ward; she survived.

Police were called in, and a 31-year-old psychiatric patient was arrested.

The man, Idelson Guerrier of Joliette, Que., was formally charged with assault with a weapon and break and enter with criminal intent.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the suspect is connected to the deaths. A department spokeswoman said detectives have already questioned the man and may want to interrogate him again after he undergoes a psychiatric evaluation.

Initially, hospital staff did not suspect foul play in either of the deaths. Officials said both victims suffered from medical problems as well as psychological ones.

"These deaths seemed to be natural," said hospital spokeswoman Lucie Dufresne.

The institution does not routinely call for autopsies when someone dies, but the attack changed everything for these two cases.

When police were called in, staff told them about the recent patient deaths. It was only then autopsies were carried out on the bodies and tests discovered both men died by asphyxiation, Dufresne said.

The head of a patients' rights group said Thursday he was troubled by the fact the deaths were initially blamed on natural causes.

"It sends shivers up the spine," said Paul Brunet, president of the Conseil pour la protection des malades.

He said patients have a right to feel secure in a hospital and asked how an individual who was allegedly "that violent" found his way into the institution.

The hospital kept the deaths and the assault quiet for days. Dufresne said officials needed the time to alert families of the victims, and the other patients in the psychiatric ward, before going public. The goal was to keep people from wondering about their loved ones.

She said the relatives of the victims and each of the approximately 70 patients in the unit were contacted before the hospital released the information late Wednesday.

She also sought to downplay concerns about security -- and pointed out the hospital is not a detention centre for people with violent behaviour.

Psychiatric patients have freedom to circulate, which Dufresne said is common in a hospital setting.

"Psychiatry in hospital is not a prison," she said.

"So patients have a certain liberty... It's a therapeutic place where people can recover."

Dr. Paul Lespérance, chief of Notre-Dame's psychiatric unit, said the suspect had been under the watch of his ward's intensive-care specialists, a standard procedure for patients previously unknown to the team.

Hospital officials insist a sufficient number of employees was on duty when the deaths and the attack occurred.

But they say they have still launched an internal evaluation to determine whether improvements are needed.

On Thursday, one reporter took the elevator to the psychiatry ward and talked to several people. A security guard eventually caught up with her.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 29, 2012 A17

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