Car set on fire at home of owner of Old Montreal buildings hit by fatal arsons

MONTREAL — An SUV was torched Thursday in the suburban driveway of a lawyer who owns two Old Montreal buildings that have burned down in the past two years and left nine people dead.

Police did not identify the owner of the home, but city property records show that the residence in the Montreal suburb of Dorval belongs to Emile Benamor.

The vandalism to the vehicle is the third criminal incident reported this month involving property owned by Benamor, and the fourth since March 2023.

Police have not said if the events are linked. Attempts to reach Benamor on Thursday were unsuccessful, but Montreal police said last week that he has been co-operating with the investigation into the Old Montreal fires.

Benamor owns a century-old Notre-Dame Street East building that went up in flames on Oct. 4, claiming the lives of a mother and daughter from France.

Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud Geraudie had been staying at a hostel in the three-storey building that had a restaurant on the ground floor.

Justin Fortier-Trahan, 20, and Juventino Hernandez Pelaez, 18, were charged with second-degree murder and arson over the weekend. They were also charged with arson causing bodily harm in connection to another man injured in the fire, and recklessly endangering life by damaging a property by fire or explosion.

The case is due back in court on Friday.

Benamor also owns a heritage property on nearby Place D’Youville that was allegedly set on fire in March 2023, leading to the deaths of seven people. Investigators have classified the deaths as homicides.

The victims in that blaze were identified as Camille Maheux, 76; An Wu, 31; Dania Zafar, 31; Saniya Khan, 31; Nathan Sears, 35; Charlie Lacroix and Walid Belkahla, both 18.

No arrests have been made in the 2023 blaze, but police have said they have submitted the results of their investigation to the Crown to determine if charges will be laid. A coroner’s inquest has been ordered into the fatal fires.

On Oct. 8, a building owned by Benamor that houses his law office was hit by gunfire, with Montreal police arresting three suspects — aged 17, 19 and 20 — shortly after.

On Thursday, police said emergency services were called at around 3 a.m. about a vehicle on fire in the driveway of a residence on Whitehead Crescent.

Police say a gas canister was found at the scene.

“The suspect fled on foot before the police arrived,” said Const. Véronique Dubuc, a police spokeswoman.

A Montreal fire department spokeswoman says no one was injured and the flames did not spread to the home, but the vehicle is a total loss.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press