- 7 weeks ago
On March 26, 2022, Marie Gabriel’s ex-partner, Jean-Bruno Fenelon, called 911 saying he found her dead when dropping off their children. Fenelon had lots of theories as to who her killer was, but it would be a horrific forensics scene that ultimately led Ottawa police to the murderer and left Marie Gabriel’s family reflecting on some hard truths as they strive to keep her legacy alive.
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00:00This program is rated 14 plus and contains scenes of violence and mature subject matter.
00:08Viewer discretion is advised.
00:12Our call started around 8.30 a.m. and then just as she says he just left, somebody walks
00:19back into the house and she starts yelling, get the f*** out of my house, get the f***
00:23out of my house.
00:25And the phone just dropped.
00:30I look everywhere, everywhere and I saw she's laying down, downstairs and there's blood
00:36over the floor.
00:38Forensic pathologists mentioned that she had been hit with a dumbbell at least twice.
00:43There was noticeable tread from what appeared to be a Timberland boot on the floor that was
00:48left inside the pool of blood.
00:50We need to identify who this person is.
00:52Is this a person that harmed Marie and ultimately killed Marie?
00:55One of the heartbreaking things was that those two young children would have been there
01:01whenever their mother was being murdered.
01:06Good evening and welcome to Crime Beat.
01:08I'm Anthony Robart.
01:10When Ottawa police respond to a call at a townhouse in the city's south end, what they discover
01:16reveals a scene of unimaginable brutality.
01:19The victim, 24-year-old Marie Gabriel, a young mother of two.
01:24But who would want her dead?
01:27As investigators would soon learn, Marie didn't spend her final moments with just her killer.
01:34Here now is Final Call, the murder of Marie Gabriel.
01:39Hi there, it's 911.
01:43Do you need the police to fire the paramedic?
01:46Yes, I just want to bring my kid here for the mom.
01:50On Monday, March 28, 2022, the Ottawa police received a 911 call.
01:57I look everywhere, everywhere, and then when I look downstairs, I saw she's laying down downstairs
02:02and then there's blood already flowing.
02:04I want you to go down there right now and try to wake her up.
02:06The caller was Mr. Jean Fenelon, who reported that he attended his partner's residence, Marie
02:14Gabriel, with his two kids, that he was to drop off.
02:19And upon entering the house, he could not find his partner.
02:24Mary, she's not moving.
02:27She's not moving?
02:28Is she breathing?
02:29No, there's nothing at all.
02:31And she's not breathing.
02:32She's not breathing.
02:33Okay, okay, so real quick here, with my help, would you like to start CPR?
02:40Yeah, I can try that.
02:41I'm with my two kids, so they keep coming downstairs.
02:44I don't want them to see it, though.
02:45Okay, I understand, but we really need to try right now because every second counts, okay?
02:51There's actually blood everywhere now.
02:53There's blood?
02:54Where is the blood coming from?
02:56From her head.
02:57And then there's black, black, black blood on the count.
02:59I understand this is difficult, but you really need to push as hard and as fast as you can.
03:04Yeah, I'm doing that.
03:05Okay.
03:06She's not moving.
03:06She's not moving.
03:07I understand.
03:09Is there any response from her at all?
03:11No, nothing at all.
03:12Nothing?
03:13Okay.
03:13It's just like somebody smashed her head.
03:15I arrive at the scene.
03:22Uniformed officers are already at the scene.
03:24Paramedics are also now on scene.
03:26Nothing stood out at that location, that neighborhood I'm familiar with.
03:30They direct us to the unit in question where the victim, Marie, was located.
03:35Marie Gabrielle was found deceased on her back with trauma to her face and a bloody 30-pound
03:43iron cast dumbbell beside her head.
03:46The scene was a very gruesome scene.
03:50There was a lot of blood.
03:52There was a lot of blood spatters.
03:54There was also a lot of footprints.
03:58Marie Gabrielle was found barefoot, so there was a lot of her footprints within the scene
04:03and some drag marks, and those footprints led to the stairwells, and they stop at the
04:10stairwells, and the drag marks lead further in the basement towards her last resting place.
04:21It was obvious by the footprints and the drag marks that Marie Gabrielle tried to get away
04:27from her attacker.
04:28We were aware that the 911 caller was present, and part of our role is to interview that person
04:34to get as much information as we can about what transpired.
04:38I speak to Jean.
04:39I identify myself as an investigator.
04:42I ask him a few simple questions, his name and a little bit of background information.
04:46He was sitting in his car on the roadway a short distance from the house, and he had
04:52two small children in the car with him.
04:54We make some arrangements to have the children picked up by a family member, and Jean agrees
05:01to attend the police station to be interviewed.
05:05Coffee's good?
05:07Yes, sir.
05:11So, before we get started, just so you know, it's being recorded?
05:17Yeah, I know.
05:17Okay.
05:17Sorry, I come into the interview room.
05:20Unfortunately, I did tell you, sadly had to tell you at the scene, that she passed away.
05:28So, this is a homicide investigation, okay?
05:32This is still early, well, mid-morning at this point.
05:36You last saw her on Sunday?
05:39Saturday?
05:39Yeah.
05:40He tells us he doesn't have any communication with Marie over the course of the weekend,
05:44and then returns Monday morning to drop off the children.
05:48He explained he arrived at the house.
05:51The front door is unlocked.
05:52He enters the house.
05:53He's yelling out her name.
05:55So, when I knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, there was nothing, no response.
06:01So, I touch the door.
06:03The door just opened.
06:04There's no response, and then, ultimately, he goes down to the basement of the house and
06:17finds Marie on the floor.
06:19So, I went downstairs.
06:22She was just laying down there.
06:24There was blood all over the floor.
06:26And my thing, my lifted ribs, was, like, next to her.
06:30One of the number one thoughts that's going through my head is, who is Marie Gabriel?
06:36Who is the victim?
06:38Why would someone want to hurt her?
06:40Why would someone want to kill her?
06:42How did I find out that she was dead?
06:46I was at work, packing up to go home.
06:48And as I'm driving, I get a call from her best friend.
06:51I called her brother, David, and I had to break the news to him that Marie was found dead.
07:03And she's crying.
07:04Then, I believe, my mom called me and said that the detectives are on their way to the house
07:09and I should get home quickly.
07:12On Monday night, in March 2022, 9.25 p.m., my phone rang and I just looked at my phone
07:20and it was my son, Mimi's brother.
07:24I knew there was something wrong in the tone of his voice.
07:28Your daughter is dead.
07:31When he said these things to me, everything was churning over and over and over.
07:38Last conversation with me, when did I last speak to her?
07:40How did this happen?
07:41The detectives did not disclose any details because it was still an investigation.
07:45I found Jean Bernalot, like, he's the father of the kids.
07:50The mother is gone.
07:51And he starts crying.
07:53And he's telling me the story of basically what happened.
07:55I said to him, okay, like, what do you mean she was laying in a pile of blood?
08:00And he says, well, it looked like somebody, like, dated somebody to beat her.
08:04At the start of the investigation, we had no suspects.
08:08Welcome back to Crime Beat.
08:22The murder of Ottawa's Marie Gabrielle was reported by her on-again, off-again partner, Jean Bernalot.
08:29Jean told police he had come home to a horrifying scene.
08:33Marie beaten to death in their basement.
08:36Now, detectives were left with one critical question.
08:41Who would want the mother of two young children dead?
08:46We now return to Final Call, the murder of Marie Gabrielle.
08:51She's my younger sister.
08:55We were close.
08:56We grew up together.
08:58I call her Marie or Nini.
09:00And my father calls her Mimi.
09:03As a young child, she was always wanting to be outside the house and playing, playing in the sand, playing in the dirt.
09:11We grew up together in Gambia, and we came to Canada, Ottawa, in 2007.
09:18And her mum, her mum had pet somebody else.
09:21I eventually moved back to the UK.
09:25So, eventually, for them to get in touch with me, it was like having children all over again, even though they were mini-adults.
09:33We were in middle school when we met.
09:39She was very lively.
09:41She loved to laugh.
09:42She loved to pull pranks.
09:44Marie was very kind.
09:46She was just the most beautiful smile.
09:49She was funny.
09:52And then, once I moved to Fredericton, our friendship became slightly distant.
09:59But then, we'd find our way back to each other and just pick up like nothing ever happened.
10:05Yeah, she just became a rock to lean on, and I became a rock for her to lean on, too.
10:11Yeah.
10:13Jean Bernot is the one that told me that there was a dumbbell beside her head, and the dumbbell was full of blood.
10:20Forensic pathologist mentioned that she had been hit with that dumbbell at least twice.
10:26She sustained two holes on the side of her right, here, and a hole on her forehead.
10:32And just the thought of using a 30-pound dumbbell, that's obviously quite a heavy object.
10:40That takes quite a bit of force to swing.
10:43Obviously, we do see some blunt force trauma-related injuries and homicides, but the 30-pound dumbbell, that was not something I had ever seen used before.
10:53The impact was so forceful that it caused two hinge fractures at the base of her skull.
10:59Normally, you see those kinds of injuries during a motor vehicle collision or a fall from a great height.
11:09Marie-Gabrielle was also hit several times with a stick that we found.
11:13She was hit on her chest, on her back, on her hands, on her legs, on her forearms.
11:20That's the indentation.
11:22That's a piece of wood.
11:23Yeah, that's her right hand.
11:27The marks on her forearms were described by the forensic pathologist as defensive wound.
11:33There's the indentation, the exact measurement of the side of that stick, yeah.
11:37There was also something very important, too, within the crime scene.
11:43We found a boot print.
11:45There was noticeable tread from what appeared to be a Timberland boot on the floor that was left inside the pool of blood.
11:52And with the amount of blood that was found at the scene of the crime, it was also likely that there would have been some bloody clothing that belonged to the accused.
11:59Once you look at the whole scene, the bloody footprints, the drag marks, piece of wood, the dumbbell that was used to kill their 30-pound dumbbell, in my opinion, this crime was a personal, was very personal.
12:17You said she had a friend over on Friday or Saturday?
12:20No.
12:21Has Jean provided some information about other, how he described Marie being with other males?
12:28And that it possibly may be one of those people that came in and killed Marie Gabriel?
12:35She did mention one time that she was seeing a guy and the guy was good to her.
12:39Later on, because I started, like, doing research about the guy and I found some of his, like, social media pages and I saw that he was a boxer.
12:48And I'm like, okay, so this could be him, because he's a boxer, he likes to fight, and he could have lost his temper and, like, took a hold of her and beat her to death.
13:03Through looking at their social media history, it was clear that there appeared to be a new man in the victim's life.
13:12And then it was my duty to look into the nature of that particular relationship.
13:17Maybe she was or had returned with Jean-Franlon and had resumed a relationship with him because of the children.
13:26They wanted to be a family, and the jealous boyfriend or jealous ex-boyfriend might have been involved in killing her.
13:35That was another theory that was possible.
13:37And he goes on to provide a theory that, oh, maybe she invited someone over and that person hit her over the head, or maybe someone came in and hit her over the head.
13:50Jean did bring up a theory that Marie Gabriel was involved in sex trade.
13:55Presenting the victim as a high-risk sex worker, it potentially could lead us down any number of rabbit holes.
14:03It could be any number of unknown persons.
14:05These are all investigative avenues that need to be pursued now that this information has been provided to us.
14:11When the officers arrived at the scene, it was obvious that Marie Gabriel had not just died.
14:20Like, the pool of blood around her head was darker, the blood was darker, and it was dried up.
14:27She was killed a few days ago.
14:30It had actually very likely happened a couple days before.
14:34In looking at Marie Gabriel's cell phone billing records, it was clear that there were no more outgoing communications after about 11.50 a.m. on March 26th.
14:45So that suggests to me that she's no longer using the phone.
14:50Either she is deceased at this point, or the phone has been taken from her.
14:54I have all those kids here. I thought it was going to help me to put them to sleep, you know?
14:58He's like, well, I'm going out.
15:01Rafa Alon describes the weekend prior to Marie's death as he had spent some time with Marie.
15:07They were together during the evening.
15:09They had the children with them.
15:11And then he describes the vehicle picking Marie up.
15:15We need to identify who this person is.
15:17Is this a person that is a friend with Marie?
15:21Is this a person that harmed Marie and ultimately killed Marie?
15:25She came back in the morning.
15:27She came back to me upstairs.
15:30Ozan talks about Marie returning home and then that Marie called her friend.
15:34She went back downstairs.
15:36She was on the air front the whole time.
15:38This is a new person that we need to follow up with.
15:41This is someone that's going to also help us with the timeline.
15:44The little girl of my brother.
15:45This is now a new witness.
15:46She was laying on my chest.
15:47I was like feeling it, giving her milk, you know?
15:49Welcome back.
16:04Jean-Bernot Fenelon called 911 on the morning of Monday, March 28, 2022 after his on-again, off-again partner Marie Gabriel was found bludgeoned to death in her home.
16:15With multiple theories circulating around who would have wanted Marie dead, police now believe she may have been killed days earlier.
16:24We now return to Final Call, the murder of Marie Gabriel.
16:33She keeps telling me to leave, my girl now.
16:36She keeps telling me to leave.
16:37It's unclear when exactly, but Jean indicates that he leaves with the children for the weekend with the promise that he's going to return the children to Marie on Monday morning.
16:48So I took them and then she's like, you know what, just bring them back on Monday, which is today.
16:55So he's now given me a timeline saying he last spoke to Marie early morning on Saturday.
17:02So I didn't stay during the full interview, but at one point I came back, and that's when the information came in during the interview about Marie Gabriel's friend, Norland Tassi.
17:17She was talking to that Norland girl.
17:20Okay.
17:21So the Norland girl is more like a best friend, best friend.
17:25So I followed up on this by calling Norland Tassi that morning.
17:30The day I got the call from the detective, it was a Monday morning, the 28th of March.
17:40And he's like, hi, I'm with the Homicidal Department.
17:43I'm calling Gardner Marie.
17:45And the whole world stopped around me.
17:49I broke down.
17:51She informed me that on the Friday before, so March 26, 2022, Marie Gabriel had left with another man.
18:02She had gone out the previous night, the Friday night, with her boyfriend, Jean Israel.
18:07When we first approached him, he was unaware of Marie Gabriel's death.
18:16When we informed him that Marie had passed, he became extremely emotional, visibly upset.
18:23Analyzing Jean Israel's phone revealed that he was nowhere near the scene of the homicide at the time it occurred.
18:30We collect video security footage that clearly places that mail at those locations during those times,
18:39making it almost impossible that he had any involvement in the death of Marie Gabriel.
18:45The Saturday morning, we were on the phone on and off,
18:47and she had told me then that she was completely done with her relationship with Jean Finanon.
18:56She wanted to break things off with him and everything.
18:59So that morning, when we called each other, that's exactly what she was doing.
19:03She was breaking things off with him.
19:04She was calling him to get out of the house, to pack his things and leave.
19:09And he was just arguing back and forth with her that he wasn't leaving, that he didn't want to leave.
19:14Our calls, I believe, started around like 8.30 a.m., 9.30 a.m. that morning, that Saturday morning.
19:23And our last call was around 12.
19:26And she goes, he just left.
19:30And I go, okay.
19:32And then just as she says, he just left, somebody walks back into the house.
19:37And she starts yelling, get the f*** out of my house, get the f*** out of my house.
19:40So I was just like, okay, she's standing her ground, and the phone just dropped.
19:46But the call was still going on.
19:49But I just couldn't hear anything, so I just thought she might have muted me.
19:52So I just stayed on the phone, and I waited for her to come back on.
19:57So I stayed on the phone for about seven minutes.
20:00And I just said, hey, if you can hear me, call me back.
20:03And I hung up.
20:06And then, yeah, I never heard back from her.
20:10We were also missing, during this investigation, Marie-Gabrielle's phone,
20:16which is another piece of information we really wanted to find.
20:21Instead of searching your phone now, we're going to get a search warrant to do it, okay?
20:25Just because it's a criminal investigation.
20:27We're also going to seize your vehicle.
20:30And I'm not saying that you're involved.
20:32We just have to cover all bases, okay?
20:36Well, Mr. Fenelon's vehicle was seized,
20:40and no evidence linking to the crime was found in the car.
20:45So we didn't find any blood, basically, in the car.
20:47The purpose of seasoning Jean-Fenelon's phone is to extract data
20:52to either corroborate what he's telling us in his interview
20:57and to see if he's actually truthful,
21:01because he speaks about sending text messages,
21:05phone calls with Marie-Gabrielle, being at certain locations.
21:08We wanted to confirm that.
21:13One of the first things I did whenever I received this data
21:16was I went straight to the location information that was found on the phone.
21:19Basically, what this allowed me to do
21:21was see where his phone was and at what time,
21:24and I have a look at the cell phone towers
21:26that the cell phone is actually using.
21:29So some inconsistencies from Mr. Fenelon's police interview
21:34in the sequence of events.
21:37Mr. Fenelon said in his original statement
21:40that once he left, he went straight to his mother's place
21:44and he stayed there the whole day.
21:46Well, GPS data location on his phone
21:50shows that from the Edrington address,
21:53he went to his mother's address.
21:55But 20 minutes later, he went to Petrie Island in Orleans,
22:01and he stayed there for almost 15 minutes.
22:04Once the phone arrived at Petrie Island,
22:06it appeared to stop in the area of the parking lot,
22:09and it remained stationary in the parking lot.
22:12But where the user went in that amount of time,
22:15I don't know for sure.
22:18So on the 30th of March,
22:21our search team was given a task
22:23with a very narrow search,
22:26just to check the area where the GPS data locations are on the map.
22:31We're trying to find clothing and a cell phone.
22:35So we're here at Petrie Island,
22:37and the search unit had come here,
22:40searched the parking lot area,
22:43down in this bush area as well,
22:46and down these footpaths.
22:50And they searched all the way down
22:52to the entrance of Petrie Island.
22:55Ultimately, we were looking for,
22:58and the main piece of evidence was her cell phone.
23:00But unfortunately, at the time,
23:01they weren't able to find anything.
23:05The phone then leaves the area of Petrie Island
23:07and begins traveling west.
23:09It then travels south down Highway 417
23:12and then exits again,
23:13and eventually it arrives back at the scene of the crime.
23:18It then remains there for about 54 minutes
23:21before it begins moving again.
23:22One of the witnesses that we spoke to
23:25was another resident of the same housing complex.
23:29She had observed Jean Fenelon
23:30coming and going in the afternoon.
23:32And this was one of the first pieces of evidence
23:34that we actually received
23:36that began to contradict the story
23:39that Jean Fenelon was giving us.
23:41So that was the first moment
23:42where I was thinking,
23:45it's possible that he's not telling us the truth.
23:48At this point,
23:49we were able to obtain some surveillance video
23:52located at opposite ends of the street
23:55that led up to the residence.
23:57Soon after the homicide was reported,
23:59we did also speak to the mother of Jean Fenelon.
24:04Another slight red flag,
24:06she said he had arrived in the early afternoon,
24:08which would have actually been about a few hours
24:11after whenever he said he had arrived.
24:13And another interesting thing
24:15that revealed itself in doing so
24:17was that I realized
24:18while he was going to Petrie Island,
24:21while he was returning to the scene,
24:23while he was going back to Orleans,
24:26throughout that time period,
24:27he was still texting with Marie Gabrielle.
24:30The part that stood out,
24:31or parts, I should say,
24:33that stood out the most about that interview
24:34is Jean Fenelon's criticism
24:38towards Marie Gabrielle.
24:39I would, like, call her, like,
24:41they, they, they, you know?
24:43Because, you know, like,
24:45if you're a woman, you want to be respected,
24:46so why are you cheating?
24:47Why are you doing all those kind of things, you know?
24:49In the moment I'm listening to Jean
24:51describe Marie Gabrielle,
24:54and I'm thinking to myself,
24:57there is no love there,
24:59there's no compassion there,
25:00he doesn't care about Marie one bit.
25:03He called her names,
25:04he said she was cheating on him,
25:06he didn't show any emotions,
25:08but that doesn't give us grounds
25:11to believe that he killed her.
25:15Because she was with him,
25:17and he didn't want her to hang out with me,
25:20and he would make a fuss about that,
25:22so she became very distant towards me.
25:25Sometimes, I'd be having
25:28two or three months' conversations with Mimi,
25:31and then suddenly Mimi was gone.
25:33I challenged my daughter over,
25:36why are you often changing your phone number,
25:40why are you often disappearing
25:42for months at a time,
25:44and she confided that Bernal
25:46was quite hands-on with her,
25:49and he would lose his temper,
25:53smash her phones up.
25:54He talks about, in the past arguments,
26:11physical arguments they've had,
26:13maybe from both parties at this point,
26:15I don't know.
26:16There was something there
26:16that wasn't added up,
26:17like either they're living together,
26:20and they're jointly involved
26:22in raising the children,
26:23or they're separated,
26:24and they have some sort
26:25of separation agreement
26:26and child custody agreement,
26:28and he described the situations
26:31as being merged,
26:32which didn't make sense to me.
26:33We FaceTimed every single day.
26:47Go, don't be the baby.
26:48I want the baby.
26:52Hi, Asher.
26:53Oh, okay, I'm sorry.
26:55Okay.
26:56Oh, I'm sorry, Asher.
26:57Yeah.
26:58These are the text messages
27:02from the Friday night.
27:06So Friday the 25th at 11.30.
27:10I text Marie, and I say,
27:12where are you?
27:13Bernal is freaking out.
27:15And Marie responds,
27:17f*** Bernal.
27:18Bernal said he wants
27:19to cut my legs off.
27:23She then proceeded to text me
27:25Saturday morning at 4.40,
27:289 a.m.
27:29She said, hey, sis, I'm home.
27:31I can't do it anymore,
27:33and I'm literally here crying
27:35while texting you.
27:36I don't want anyone of them.
27:38I'll stay by myself
27:39and raise my children
27:40and just do me.
27:43Later that morning
27:44on March 26th,
27:45Marie is again texting
27:47Jean Israelon
27:48about Jean Fenelon
27:50and how he's refusing
27:51to leave the residence.
27:53The text messages she sends
27:54at 10.24 a.m. read,
27:56I need help.
27:58This guy don't want
27:58to leave the house.
28:00This guy wants to fight me.
28:02He wanted to put his hands on me.
28:04He's fighting me right now.
28:06I should have been like,
28:07hey, maybe I should call the cops
28:09to go check in on her.
28:10I heard a faint voice
28:12and I could recognize
28:14that it was his,
28:15but I didn't hear what he said.
28:17I didn't hear a threat
28:20or anything.
28:21She tried to reach her
28:22the following days
28:23by calls and text messages
28:27with negative results.
28:29I do believe that the homicide
28:31would have taken place
28:32probably very close in time
28:36to when that phone call
28:37with Norland was cut off
28:38and she wasn't able
28:39to reach her again.
28:40Based on the fact
28:41that Mr. Fenelon
28:44had failed to provide us
28:46with the information
28:47that he went to Petrie Island
28:48and he also failed to tell us
28:51that he returned to the scene,
28:53which to me are two
28:54big mistakes he made.
28:56Compiling all this information,
28:58I was satisfied
28:59that we had enough grounds
29:00to arrest Mr. Fenelon
29:01for murder.
29:02So he came in on his own
29:08on the alert that
29:09would return his car
29:10and we arrested him.
29:12Until I arrest someone,
29:13I don't have a motive, right?
29:14I don't know a motive.
29:16Hello, sir.
29:17Hello.
29:18How are you?
29:19How are you doing?
29:19I'm very good, thanks.
29:21Nice to meet you.
29:22This is March 30, 2022.
29:25This is my first time
29:26meeting Mr. Fenelon.
29:27He had been arrested
29:28a few hours before.
29:30I want to establish cooperation.
29:33What did I do?
29:34Mm-hmm.
29:34Huh?
29:35Yeah.
29:35What did I do?
29:36That's a good question.
29:37Exactly.
29:38Yeah.
29:38So I'm here.
29:39Like I'm here because
29:40I called the police
29:41and I found my girlfriend
29:43laying on the ground dead.
29:44You find that to be unfair?
29:46It is really unfair.
29:47I've decided to do
29:48what's called a reenactment.
29:50Tell me exactly
29:51the words she used.
29:52She's like,
29:53get out of my house.
29:54Okay.
29:55Get out of my house.
29:56That's why she said
29:57she pushed me
29:58get out, get out,
29:59get out of my house.
30:01So I get out.
30:02I went inside the car again.
30:04I was just sitting there
30:05and then she kept
30:06dropping bags
30:07one by one,
30:07one by one outside.
30:09So what I'm trying to do
30:10is basically
30:11let's bring him back
30:12to the actual scene.
30:14Let's bring him back
30:15to that actual day.
30:17Like this.
30:18Okay.
30:18So kind of show me
30:19how she was doing it.
30:21Like...
30:22Yeah.
30:23Without hurting me
30:24but kind of show me.
30:26You really want me to do that?
30:27Yeah.
30:27Yeah.
30:27She was like this.
30:28Yeah.
30:29Like this, you know.
30:29Yeah.
30:30Get out of my house.
30:31Okay.
30:32And then I was like,
30:32fine.
30:33And then I left.
30:34She had the phone the whole time.
30:35She just pushed me with one hand.
30:36But she was pushing you
30:37with one hand.
30:37Yes.
30:38Okay.
30:38So in this particular stage
30:41of the statement
30:42that Mr. Fanlon is providing me,
30:45he's confirming
30:46that Mary had a phone in her hand.
30:48She was on the phone
30:49which dis-cooperates
30:51the actual statement
30:53from Norland.
30:54There's a gap in the timeline.
30:57And on the 26th,
30:59the 11.30-ish mark,
31:01between 11.30 and noon,
31:03is a critical time.
31:05This is the end
31:06of cell phone activity
31:08of Miss Gabrielle.
31:10So on this day,
31:11did you ever come back?
31:14No, I was,
31:16but I didn't come back.
31:17Okay.
31:18I didn't get inside the place,
31:19so.
31:19Because initially you said
31:21you stayed at your mom
31:22the entire day
31:22and you were there all day.
31:25Okay.
31:27Now, sometimes, you know,
31:29people think about things
31:31after the fact.
31:32Okay.
31:34Do you remember returning here
31:36on the Saturday?
31:41I don't think I did.
31:45Oh, yeah.
31:45I left with two kids.
31:46I left with two kids.
31:48And then I came back
31:50for my two other kids.
31:52The first was my brother's kids.
31:54Yeah.
31:55And then after that
31:56was my two kids.
31:57We didn't, like,
31:59there was no agreement,
32:00like, saying bad things
32:01to each other, no.
32:02So the original timeline
32:05provided by him,
32:06he leaves at the 11.30-ish mark,
32:08and then he never returns
32:10up until the Monday morning
32:11when he discovers her body.
32:13This is a major blow
32:15to the actual timeline.
32:18He brings us back
32:19to the actual house
32:20about an hour-ish
32:22after when you originally left
32:24when there is that altercation.
32:26Based on the evidence
32:27that we've gathered here so far,
32:29all right,
32:30we know who killed
32:31and caused
32:32the death of Mary.
32:34Okay?
32:34What if there's something?
32:35And that was you.
32:37That was me.
32:38That was you.
32:41I didn't kill me.
32:43Who did then?
32:45I don't know.
32:48You think it's me,
32:49but I have no idea.
32:51This is where he needed
32:53to know that there was
32:54absolutely no doubt
32:56in the mind of the investigators,
32:58especially Detective Guy Seguin,
32:59that he was the one responsible
33:01for the murder of Mary Gabrielle.
33:03So this is the tracker
33:06that was connected to you,
33:08okay,
33:09pertaining to your phone.
33:12So everywhere we go
33:13with our phone,
33:14it leaves a trace.
33:15You leave your mom's place
33:17and you go to Petrie Island.
33:21I didn't go exactly
33:22into Petrie Island.
33:23I passed by Petrie Island.
33:24He wants to distance himself
33:26very much from Petrie Island.
33:30And what brought you there
33:31going from your mom to there?
33:34Well, maybe
33:35took you up night.
33:38Or what evidence
33:39are they going to find
33:40in that vicinity,
33:42even in the water?
33:44There's no night.
33:45There's nothing.
33:46Well, I'm not talking
33:46about nights
33:47or any item whatsoever
33:50that will be connected
33:51to either you or Mary.
33:54I don't think
33:56there's anything.
34:01Like a cell phone,
34:03I completely don't know about it.
34:04What I found here,
34:05he was non-confident
34:08about Petrie Island.
34:10He was denying at first,
34:12now he's back at Petrie Island.
34:15Petrie Island
34:16was a red flag to us.
34:18We need to resend
34:19a search team
34:21at Petrie Island.
34:24Welcome back.
34:35Marie Gabriel
34:36was beaten to death
34:37in her basement.
34:38Her body left
34:39for two days
34:40before being discovered
34:42by the very man
34:43now arrested
34:44and charged
34:44in her murder,
34:45the children's father,
34:46Jean-Bernot Fenelon.
34:48With Jean denying
34:49any involvement,
34:50police make the decision
34:51to return to Petrie Island
34:53where they believe
34:54he may have discarded
34:55key evidence.
34:58Here now
34:59is the conclusion
35:01of Final Call,
35:03the murder
35:04of Marie Gabriel.
35:05that morning
35:09we decided to come
35:10to Petrie Island
35:11after Detective Segain
35:12decided to expand
35:14the search.
35:15We searched the parking lot
35:16a little bit.
35:17Eventually we decided
35:18let's go have a look
35:19at the shoreline
35:21because the search unit
35:22hadn't searched this area
35:24and it'd be a great area
35:26to get rid of evidence,
35:27you know,
35:28throwing anything
35:28in the water.
35:31On March 31st
35:32this was covered
35:33in snow
35:34and the water
35:35was frozen
35:36and that's where
35:38we saw the boot,
35:39the Timberland boot
35:40just at the frozen edge
35:43was the boot
35:44standing right there
35:45and then when we
35:46continued to look around
35:48we saw some clothing
35:49just at the beginning
35:51of the ice shelf
35:51close to the edge
35:53of the water.
35:54There was gray
35:55like a hoodie
35:57sweatshirt
35:58and some black pants
35:59as well.
36:01During that time
36:02another investigator
36:04located the other boot
36:06on the beach
36:07just a little bit
36:08further down.
36:10Ultimately
36:10we couldn't find
36:11her cell phone.
36:13A few days later
36:15the ice would have
36:16melted
36:17and would have
36:17lost all of this
36:18evidence.
36:20And eventually
36:20we sent both boots
36:22and the clothing
36:23to the Center
36:24of Forensic Science
36:24to be analyzed for DNA.
36:26Marie-Gabrielle's
36:27blood was found
36:29on all four items.
36:34The inside back collar
36:36of the shirt
36:37was a swab
36:38and it returned
36:40to be Mr. Fenelon's
36:41DNA.
36:43As for the boots,
36:44the boots were
36:45covered with blood
36:46spatter
36:46and it returned
36:47to Mr. Fenelon's
36:49DNA.
36:49Fenelon's
36:50trial
36:50occurred in the fall
36:52of 2024.
36:53It lasted seven weeks.
36:55I did testify
36:56at the trial.
36:57One of the tricky things
36:58in files like this
36:59is that the suspect
37:00resides at this address.
37:01You expect to find
37:02his DNA.
37:03In this case
37:04the location information
37:05was so important
37:06that I knew I had to go up
37:09there and do a good job
37:10to ensure that justice
37:11was going to be served
37:12in this case.
37:12It was daunting.
37:13And every opportunity
37:14he had insulted me.
37:15He made gestures towards me.
37:17And even when I gave a tiny
37:18little bit of evidence,
37:19he laughed at me.
37:20Shockingly, I heard
37:21that she was weakened
37:22from his previous beating
37:23with the wood.
37:24And I knew I had to go up
37:25there and do a good job
37:26to ensure that justice
37:27was going to be served
37:28in this case.
37:29It was daunting.
37:30And every opportunity
37:31he had insulted me.
37:33He made gestures towards me.
37:35And even when I gave
37:36a tiny little bit of evidence,
37:38he laughed at me.
37:40Shockingly, I heard
37:42that she was weakened
37:44from his previous beating
37:46with the wood.
37:48She was on the floor
37:49defenseless.
37:50And he towered her above
37:51her with that dumbbell.
37:54There's yet been a word
37:56invented for how I feel
37:58to this day and for that.
38:00I go to work at 10.
38:01Jean Ferdinand
38:02portrayed himself
38:03as a good person.
38:04I'm done at 5.
38:055.15, I'm there, you know?
38:07That's how serious
38:08honest I was with him, you know?
38:10He said he was a security guard,
38:11that he was a good father,
38:13that he wanted to live
38:14with Marie Gabriel
38:15as a family unit.
38:16He was relaying to me
38:18that he was a victim
38:21of Marie Gabriel
38:22being unfaithful towards him.
38:25Based on Mr. Fanelon
38:26saying that he believed
38:27that Marie Gabriel
38:28was involved in the
38:29sex trade industry
38:30and it could be anyone
38:31that killed her,
38:32there was no information
38:35in our database
38:37involving Marie Gabriel
38:39in any sex trade work.
38:43In my mind, listening to him
38:46describe Marie that way,
38:48he was trying to justify,
38:49in a sense, her death.
38:51She deserved to die.
38:53I believe the motive
38:55for Mr. Fanelon
38:57to brutally kill Marie Gabriel
38:59was jealousy
39:01and control.
39:02We're going to switch gears here
39:03and talk about
39:04the reports over in Gatineau.
39:06When we were reviewing this case,
39:08at the beginning,
39:09we learned that there were
39:09three incidents
39:11in Gatineau, Quebec.
39:12Those who may not know,
39:14Ottawa and Gatineau
39:15are just separated
39:16by a couple bridges
39:17and a river.
39:18They lived together
39:21in Gatineau before.
39:22They had been living together
39:23since 2017.
39:24We understand that she had
39:26called the Gatineau police
39:28indicating harassment,
39:29potentially even threats
39:30that may have happened.
39:40In November,
39:41she reached out
39:42to social services
39:43and she moved
39:45from Gatineau
39:46to a shelter,
39:47a hotel
39:48in downtown Ottawa.
39:50And the next day,
39:52he called the Gatineau police
39:54to report
39:56that she left
39:56with his children
39:58and is concerned
39:59for the safety
40:00of his children.
40:01As a result,
40:02the Gatineau police officer
40:03reached out
40:04to Marie Gabriel
40:05by phone.
40:06She said,
40:06no, I left with the kids
40:07because he threatened
40:09to cut my throat
40:10and he says
40:12he has a million ways
40:13to kill me.
40:14The officer asked her
40:17if she could
40:18attend the police station
40:19in Gatineau
40:19to file a report
40:21and Marie Gabriel
40:22never went to police
40:23to file a formal complaint.
40:26I remember getting
40:27a text message
40:28from Mimi
40:29telling me
40:30that it may be
40:30her last text.
40:33Just in case
40:34something happens
40:35to me or my kids,
40:37just know
40:37that I tried.
40:39Last night,
40:40I took the kids
40:41and left their fathers
40:42home
40:42as I was fearing
40:43for my life
40:44and theirs
40:45as they started
40:47saying things
40:48that make someone
40:49fear for their life.
40:51I'm at a safe place now,
40:53right now,
40:55just letting you
40:56or anyone know.
40:59She'd already indicated
41:00that wherever she goes,
41:01he was tracking her down,
41:02finding her.
41:03There she was.
41:04After a month
41:06in a shelter,
41:07social services
41:08found her a place
41:09at 1485 Etherington
41:11where she moved.
41:13As a result
41:13of moving there,
41:14she reached out
41:15to the Ottawa police
41:16and she explained
41:17the situation
41:17to the police officer.
41:20She told the officer
41:21that I don't want
41:23to prevent
41:23Mr. Fenelon
41:24to see our children,
41:26but I want him
41:27to stop communication.
41:28So the officer
41:29contacted Mr. Fenelon.
41:31He told him
41:32to stop calling her,
41:33stop threatening her
41:35and warn him
41:36about criminal harassment.
41:39I absolutely think
41:39that more could have been done.
41:41I remember sitting in court
41:42and hearing
41:43the police officers
41:44have been there
41:45a couple of times
41:46and I'm like,
41:47why didn't they follow up?
41:48Why didn't they go through
41:49and check again?
41:51It's actually mandatory
41:52in the province of Ontario
41:54to arrest
41:54whether the victim
41:55wants a charge or not
41:57if there's evidence
41:58of the offence.
41:59There was no additional
41:59reports of any violence
42:01until we got a call
42:02about this incident.
42:04Without physical evidence
42:05that indicates
42:06that there was
42:06some level of violence
42:07or a crime
42:08that's been committed,
42:08you're left with
42:09leaving the couple together.
42:13Once Marie-Gariel
42:14moved to the Edrington
42:16Address,
42:16her daughter
42:17became sick.
42:19So based on this,
42:20Marie-Gariel
42:21allowed Mr. Fenelon
42:22to move with her
42:24at the Edrington Address
42:26in January 2022.
42:28What stands out
42:29about this case
42:30is how much
42:31Marie was threatened,
42:33how she was fearful.
42:37Mr. Fenelon
42:37was found guilty
42:39of first-degree murder
42:40and sentenced
42:41to 25 years in prison.
42:45So it's definitely
42:45a relief
42:46whenever the verdict
42:48was handed down
42:49and it was
42:49what I very much
42:50believed to have been
42:52right.
42:54Her smile.
42:57I miss her smile.
43:03Her laugh,
43:04her voice.
43:08There's many things
43:09to miss about Marie.
43:10When I see the photos,
43:17it's crazy
43:17because it's almost like
43:19she's looking at you
43:21and I'm looking back
43:23at her
43:23so it's kind of like
43:24you want to have
43:25a conversation with her.
43:28I have a tattoo
43:32on my wrist.
43:33It's a purple ribbon
43:37which symbolises
43:39survivors of domestic violence.
43:41You'll note,
43:42I have it ripped,
43:43torn, broken
43:44because Mimi
43:48wasn't a survivor
43:49of domestic violence.
43:52She's a victim
43:53of domestic violence.
43:54there's other women
43:56out there
43:57and men
43:58suffering like my daughter
44:01suffered,
44:02putting up with it.
44:03everybody said
44:06she's got justice.
44:21Yeah, 25 years
44:22ain't enough.
44:24Nowhere near enough.
44:27But it's what
44:28your laws call justice.
44:30And I'll accept that
44:33on her behalf.
44:40To this day,
44:41Jean Fenelon
44:42continues to deny
44:44that he had anything
44:45to do with Marie's murder
44:46and that he ever
44:48threatened her.
44:49He has filed an appeal.
44:51In 2024,
44:53Alison Yurascovich
44:54was named
44:54Outstanding Crime Analyst
44:56of the Year
44:57for her work
44:57on the Marie Gabriel case.
45:00Thank you for joining us
45:03tonight on Crime Beat.
45:05I'm Anthony Robart.
45:08Want more episodes
45:09of Crime Beat?
45:10Listen to the Crime Beat podcast
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45:27Bibli憑
45:28and do
45:29the Sisters
45:30by Continue
45:30attention.
45:30.
45:31.
45:31.
45:31.
45:43.
45:44. .
45:44.
45:45.
45:46.
45:46.
45:47.
45:47.
45:48.
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