2 brothers plead guilty to keeping Inuk woman's body in their Montreal home for 6 months

Isaac Olson · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 8:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

WARNING: This communicative contains graphic details of malady and death.

Two Montreal brothers person each pleaded blameworthy to 1 number of indignity to a corpse and admitted that they kept the remains of an Indigenous pistillate connected their sofa for six months.

Alasie Tukkiapik, an Inuk pistillate from Kangiqsujuaq successful Nunavik, was recovered dormant successful September 2023 successful the 2 men's residence successful the Montréal-Nord borough. The 41-year-old pistillate had been missing for respective months.

Two abstracted statements of facts accepted by each member were filed astatine the Montreal courthouse connected Wednesday afternoon.

The statements accidental the victim's household went to Kangiqsujuaq constabulary connected Sept. 18, 2023, to study her missing. They informed the constabulary that she was successful a narration with idiosyncratic named "Frank" and provided the man's address.

The household explained to constabulary that people went to the man's location 3 antithetic times to spot Tukkiapik, but helium would not fto him. The record was sent to the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and officers went to the home, but nary 1 answered. 

After speaking with neighbours, they learned Tukkiapik had been surviving with the men, brothers Francesco Sansalone, 63, and Nicodemo Sansalone, 61.

Officers find assemblage nether blanket

Finally, officers saw Nicodemo exiting the location and confronted him astir the missing woman. He told the constabulary she was dead, and officers went into his home.

"Immediately, upon entering, the officers noticed a beardown odor of a dormant body," Nicodemo's connection of facts says. "The location was a implicit messiness and was successful unsanitary conditions."

Officers noticed the signifier of a quality connected the couch, covered by a blanket. Underneath the blanket, they recovered the body. Nicodemo was placed nether arrest, and helium instantly began telling constabulary helium feared the woman's household — reasoning her member would termination him.

He besides admitted the assemblage had been determination since astir Feb. 12.

On Oct. 19, 2023, Francesco was arrested astatine the Atwater buying mall. Investigators had been searching for him, checking shelters and different resources for the unhoused helium was known to frequent.

Police learned Francesco and Tukkiapik had been surviving unneurotic for galore years. They moved into the household location a fewer years ago, staying determination connected and off.

Tukkiapik refused to question aesculapian care

In his connection of facts, Francesco said helium archetypal met Tukkiapik 10 years earlier and "he loved her precise much, lone 2nd to God."

Prior to her death, the brace went to a motel for 2 weeks. According to him, Tukkiapik was bleeding from her buttocks due to the fact that she was stressed.

When she was bleeding, Francesco bought and changed her bandages, the connection of facts says. When they got backmost home, she was anemic and had trouble entering the house. 

He told her to spell spot a doc respective times, but she refused. He didn't telephone 911 due to the fact that she didn't privation to spell to the hospital. He slept adjacent to her for 2 to 3 weeks earlier she died, the connection of facts says.

On the time of her death, Nicodemo was astatine location successful his bedroom when his member came to archer him that Tukkiapik had died successful the surviving room.

They moved her assemblage from the level to the couch. Francesco enactment a broad implicit her and a angiosperm connected her chest. He said helium would telephone the police, according to his brother's connection of facts.

But Francesco didn't notify authorities, and the adjacent day, helium told his member astir his fearfulness of familial repercussions. 

They continued to unrecorded together, spraying aerial fresheners to screen the odor and avoiding the surviving room. Nicodemo worked agelong hours and near the location each day.

A fewer weeks earlier constabulary arrived, Francesco near the location and ne'er came backmost home, leaving his member unsocial with the corpse. Francesco aboriginal told authorities helium fled due to the fact that Tukkiapik's household were asking questions and helium was scared. 

"He lied to them due to the fact that helium thought helium was going to get killed," his connection of facts says. "He is atrocious and helium wishes to alteration things. He says that helium is already dormant inside, that helium died astatine the aforesaid [time] arsenic Mrs. Tukkiapik."

In April 2024, an autopsy study was provided. The origin of decease could not beryllium determined owed to the information of the body. There were, however, aggregate bandages and insubstantial towels connected her backmost and buttocks, beneath her clothes.

However, determination was nary disposable lesion wrong the constraints of the body's preservation, nor motion of important traumatic oregon pre-existing injury. 

The brothers are expected to beryllium sentenced adjacent week.