Quebec provincial police Sgt. Maureen Breau's husband, Daniel Sanscartier, and her children, Kheraly and Emrick, leave the church after her funeral service in Trois-Rivières, Que., Thursday, April 13, 2023. The family of a slain Quebec provincial police officer addressed a coroner's inquiry with her husband saying her tragic death should never have happened. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
MONTREAL – The husband of a provincial police sergeant killed in the line of duty in March 2023 told a coroner’s inquest today that he is still haunted by her murder.
In a letter read during the hearing, Daniel Sanscartier said the coroner’s recommendations will have a profound affect on how mental health cases are dealt with in the future.
The inquest is looking into the March 27, 2023 deaths of Sgt. Maureen Breau and Isaac Brouillard Lessard, a 35-year-old man with mental illness who stabbed the officer during an attempted arrest before he was shot dead by her colleagues.
Sanscartier, a police officer with 24 years of experience, says he cares about the future of young police officers, the security of the public, and the pain of parents who have children with mental illness who feel abandoned by the health system.
He says he remembers his late wife as a devoted mother of two who immediately won him over with her charm, kindness and joie de vivre.
The coroner’s inquest is set to conclude Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024.
