Girl’s dead body found in wooded area near college campus.

Reported by: Joel Noe

Source: The Ottawa Citizen

First Reported by: Carolyn Thompson and Julia Johnson | Postmedia News

 

 

 

 

OTTAWA — Police in Gatineau, Que., said Friday college student Valerie Leblanc died from a severe blow to the head.

Police made the announcement based on an autopsy of Leblanc's body which was found in a wooded area behind the CEGEP de l'Outaouais's Gabrielle-Roy campus in Gatineau's Hull sector.

As police continued an intense search for Valerie Leblanc's killer Thursday, they have also opened a second investigation into possible tampering with her body by four suspects who were brought in for questioning earlier this week.

Police have no suspects yet in the homicide investigation.

But when pressed, police would not rule out the fact that the killing could be the work of a predatory individual, although they said it was too early in the investigation to draw any conclusions.

Gatineau police Sgt. Jean-Paul Lemay did confirm that police have ruled out the majority of usual suspects — including Leblanc's ex-boyfriend and her family and friends.

"Anything is open right now," Lemay said. "These usual suspects are dealt with rapidly, but we can't just concentrate on these usual suspects; we must be open minded and be open to every possibility."

Charlotte Dupuis, a student at the CEGEP, told police Friday she saw a man leaving the woods while he was sitting in her car on Tuesday around 12:30.

It was a young, white man, about the age of a student, she said. His hair was pushed back over his face. She she said she didn't think he saw her.

Just before the police press conference announcing the autopsy results, Le Nguyen, a friend of Leblanc's, lit some candles where the vigil for Leblanc was held two nights before. He knelt before the tree, and prayed, lighting a stick of incense.

Nguyen had been coming to the scene each day to mourn his friend. He described Leblanc as an energetic and friendly person.

Lemay said police think there is only one person responsible for the homicide, and the suspects in the parallel investigation were not being considered in relation to Leblanc's death.

Four young people were questioned as witnesses on Tuesday night, Lemay said, following the discovery of the body.

It was only after those interviews, as well as others with about 10 people who attended the vigil Wednesday night, that those four people became suspects in the investigation into the tampering with the body.

They were not questioned a second time, and Lemay said he did not think police would need to question them again.

The suspects in the parallel investigation would only face charges of indignity to a body and obstruction of a police investigation.

"These suspects are absolutely not responsible for the death of Valerie Leblanc," Lemay said.

Four people also discovered the body of Leblanc, but Lemay would not comment on whether they are the suspects.

On Wednesday, one of the four people who discovered the body told The Citizen the group delayed calling the police because it took them time to understand the reality of the situation.

"It didn't seem real," she said. "It looked like a mannequin. We would never have thought it was someone."

Lemay said the body was found with signs of violence and burns. When officers first arrived on scene, there was fire coming from the same location where Leblanc's body lay.

"There was a fire where the body was and there were burn marks to the body," he said. "The body was affected by the fire."

Police continued to search the vast crime scene behind the CEGEP and in Gatineau Park.