Manhunt target Légaré found dead at home
Last Updated: Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 2:41 PM ET
CBC News
Claude Légaré, 49, was found dead in his Ottawa home. (Ottawa police) Claude Légaré, who had been the subject of a manhunt by Ottawa police in connection with the stabbing of his former girlfriend, has been found dead in his burnt-out home.
In a statement released late Wednesday, the Ontario Provincial Police forensic identification unit and the Ontario Fire Marshal said they had positively identified the human remains to be that of Légaré, age 49.
A post-mortem was held Thursday at the general campus of the Ottawa Hospital, but it did not determine the cause of death. Police will now wait for the results of toxicology tests.
Légaré shared the home at 4404 County Road 19 in North Grenville with former girlfriend Brenda Van Leyen until a month ago.
It was gutted by fire on Sunday night. Leeds and Grenville OPP considered the fire to be suspicious and were searching for Légaré in the area.
He was scheduled to appear in North Grenville provincial court last Friday to face eight charges dating back to June 30. Those charges include:
- Three counts of assault.
- One count of assault with a weapon.
- Three counts of threatening death or bodily harm.
- One count of careless use or storage of a firearm.
According to documents obtained from provincial court by CBC News, police were called to the home Légaré shared with Van Leyen five times between June 30 and Sept. 1, 2009.
Police issued a warrant for Légaré on Monday after Van Leyen and a man were stabbed on Friday outside a drug store in Barrhaven, in Ottawa's southwest.
Van Leyen was taken to hospital in critical condition, with stab wounds to her neck, stomach and back. On Tuesday, police said she was "recovering well" in hospital.
A 21-year-old male employee of the drugstore who rushed to help Van Leyen suffered stab wounds to his chest, but was treated and released from hospital.
