Kathrine Dufresne

Case record: Kathrine Dufresne

Background

Kathrine Dufresne was the mother of seven-year-old Sophie Fitzpatrick, her adopted daughter. Dufresne’s husband and Sophie’s father, Murray Fitzpatrick, returned from a business trip and found Sophie unconscious and Dufresne injured inside their family home.

Friends described Dufresne as a loving, attentive mother. Sue Marchand and her husband Claude Marchand said they had known the Fitzpatricks for almost 20 years. Marchand said she went to the movies with Dufresne every Tuesday, and that she had seen Sophie just days before her death as the girl made her way home from school with her mother.

Claude Marchand said Sophie’s birthday was not known when she was brought to Canada, so the Fitzpatricks celebrated it on Canada Day. Sophie had been in Canada for five-and-a-half years and had been adopted from China.

The offence

Dufresne killed her adopted daughter Sophie Fitzpatrick, who was found strangled inside the family home.

The same incident involved an attempted suicide by Dufresne. Police said Dufresne had tried to kill herself, and she remained in hospital after the discovery.

Investigation

A suicide note was discovered at the house. A letter was also described as being found by police, outlining the circumstances.

Police said they were still investigating.

Arrest

Dufresne was charged with murder in the strangulation death of her daughter. She was awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges.

Trial

After a psychiatric assessment, a court ruled Dufresne was fit to stand trial.

Dufresne made a brief appearance in Gatineau court and was remanded until Feb. 28.

A defence lawyer, Wayne Lora, said the case could proceed to trial after reviewing a medical report on Dufresne’s well being. Lora said the report suggested Dufresne be monitored regularly while in provincial prison because her risk of suicide was believed to be high, and that prison was asked to watch her and to test her regularly.

Sentencing

No sentencing was recorded.

Appeals

No appeals were recorded.

Outcome

Dufresne died in hospital after being found hanging in the jail shower.

On January 11, 2012, while in custody, she was found hanging in the jail shower at the Hull Detention Centre. She died in hospital on January 11, 2012, after being found and taken to hospital.

A psychiatric assessment had found her fit to stand trial on Monday, and she died three days later.

Aftermath

Murray Fitzpatrick was left without his family after first losing his daughter and then his wife.

When Murray Fitzpatrick answered the door of the family home, he demanded reporters leave the property and said: “Please, give us privacy,” “You think you know someone.”

After Dufresne’s death, her lawyer Wayne Lora said he learned of his client’s death from the media. He said: “Something like this is extremely rare,” “From everything I saw, she seemed quite sane when I was dealing with her,” “He can’t explain what happened when she took her daughter’s life.”

Lora said he believed Dufresne suffered from some sort of mental illness or condition. He stated: “It was 10 minutes of insanity when she killed her daughter,” “Killing herself was probably the sanest thing she did.”

He also said: “If you think it takes someone to be mentally ill to try to commit suicide it would be proved.”

Lora said he had planned a second psychiatric assessment and stated: “I had hired probably one of the best psychiatrists in the area,” “We were just trying to get things into motion.”

He said Dufresne was not on suicide watch, although she was supposed to be checked often to see if she was depressed, and if so, taken to hospital. He also said: “Lora said her death isn’t a result of a lapse in jail protocol,” “If someone is going to commit suicide they’re going to do it — you can tie them down and they’re still going to find some way of doing it,” “Maybe this was the best thing for (Dufresne).”

Lora described Dufresne as an intelligent woman and said: “And I think she took the measures to assure herself of that,” “She had tried to kill herself before in a very serious way — it’s just truly accidental that she survived,” “According to Lora, Dufresne was “functioning fairly well in other aspects.””

A spokesperson for the Quebec prison guards’ union, Stephane Lemaire, said Dufresne had been under visual monitoring almost full-time and that she used a short moment to take a shower to commit suicide. Lemaire said: “Mrs. Dufresne was under visual (monitoring) almost full-time. There was a short moment to take a shower that she took advantage of,” “The guard had a bad feeling, she broke down the door and went in the shower and saw the woman had hanged herself.”

A man who answered Murray Fitzpatrick’s phone declined to comment.

Timeline

• Oct. 22, 2011 — Murray Fitzpatrick returned home after a business trip and found Sophie Fitzpatrick unconscious and Kathrine Dufresne injured inside their family home in the Kingsmere neighbourhood of Chelsea, Que.; Sophie was pronounced dead in Hull hospital and Dufresne remained injured after attempting to kill herself.
• Monday (week of Jan. 9, 2012) — A psychiatric assessment found Dufresne fit to stand trial.
• Jan. 9, 2012 — Dufresne made a brief appearance in Gatineau court and was remanded until Feb. 28.
• Jan. 11, 2012 — Dufresne was found hanging in the jail shower at the Hull Detention Centre.
• Jan. 12, 2012 — Dufresne died in hospital after being found hanging in the jail shower.

Other details

Dufresne was 53 years old.

Police sources described the incident as a botched murder-suicide.