The Coroner’s Office made public on Tuesday the investigation report of Coroner Andrée Kronström into the deaths of Dahia Khellaf and Adam, Aksil and Nabil Yssaad, which occurred in December 2019 in the borough of Rivière-des- Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, in Montreal.
Nabil Yssaad killed Ms. Kehllaf, who was his partner, and their two children, Adam and Aksil.
Me Kronström will comment on his conclusions on Wednesday afternoon at a press conference.
In a press release sent Tuesday, the Coroner’s Office indicates that “the coroner was able to understand the risk factors at the origin of this violence and draw certain conclusions regarding the worsening of the violence leading to familicides, followed by the suicide of the author, following 11 days of hearings and 60 testimonies heard, including from numerous organizations and ministries working to study and prevent domestic violence.
The public hearings and the reading of the action plans and the integrated government strategy allowed the coroner to note “the efforts made in recent years to reduce the incidence of these deaths, but also the path that remains to go through,” underlines the press release.
Its 19 recommendations revolve around the following six actions: act in emergency situations, plan a trajectory for perpetrators of domestic violence, invest in the specialized section of the City of Montreal Police Service, add an investigation section to the police practice in matters of domestic violence, complete the deployment of specialized courts, and raise awareness of domestic violence and coercive control from a young age.
In her first possible solution to prevent domestic violence, she writes in the report that “we must iron out unequal relationships in intimate relationships, starting from childhood” and that “all stakeholders in the health network , justice, public security, community organizations, but also loved ones must be better equipped to detect violence and risky situations, including the dangerousness associated with a context of separation, especially in the presence of children.
According to her, we must also “adopt a prevention strategy that takes into account the links between suicide and domestic violence” and pay “particular attention to the phenomenon of familicide/suicide by continuing to document it, but also to detect its causes. warning signs “.
However, she underlines that “significant progress has been made to protect victims of domestic violence since 2019” and that there is “an unprecedented mobilization of many actors”.
In his view, the Building Trust report, with its 190 recommendations, was “the turning point of a profound transformation.”
“I note that the trajectory of Ms. Khellaf, Mr. Yssaad and their children is echoed in several findings from this report. The results of the implementation of the recommendations made during this investigation are positive and improve the trajectory of victims and their children. However, there is still a long way to go. »
To improve the situation, Mr. Kronström maintains that “the actions of the many actors must be concerted to equip victims, children and perpetrators of domestic violence” and that the many “available tools must be known to the population and particularly in Montreal.” .
She adds that “to get to the root of the problem, young people and newcomers must be made aware of domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence and associated with coercive control.”
A long sick
In July 2022, the chief coroner, Pascale Descary, ordered a public inquiry into the murder of Dahia Khellaf, aged 42, and her two sons, aged four and two, Adam and Aksil, as well as the suicide of Nabil Yssaad, 46 years old.
Me Descary made this announcement following the filing of four damning reports from coroner Alain Manseau on this familicide.
Nabil Yssaad went to a hospital in Lanaudière, where he threw himself into the void from the sixth floor on December 10, 2019, and it was while wanting to warn his loved ones that the police then discovered the three bodies lying next to him. next to each other in Mrs. Khellaf’s bed. The three were strangled in their sleep with an electric cable.
The couple had been united by an arranged marriage during a trip by Ms. Khellaf to Algeria, her country of origin, in 2012. She then returned alone and sponsored the entry of her husband, who arrived in Canada in 2014. The relationship deteriorated upon his arrival.
In August 2018, she went to her local police station, where she reported her husband for death threats.
A round of arrests, indictments, releases, non-compliance with conditions and constant lies to the authorities by Mr. Yssaad, who openly mocked, even in front of the judges, then began. conditions imposed on him.
The legal proceedings for domestic violence lasted a year and a half.
On July 20, 2022, the Coroner’s Office announced that “new facts have been brought to the attention of the Coroner’s Office which cause the Chief Coroner to believe that it will be useful to hear from witnesses in order to establish the circumstances of the four deaths with the greatest possible accuracy.”
The mandate was entrusted to Mr. Kronström. Public hearings took place in fall 2023.
