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

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

Two Montreal brothers have each pleaded guilty to one count of indignity to a corpse and admitted that they kept the remains of an Indigenous woman on their couch for six months.

Alasie Tukkiapik, an Inuk woman from Kangiqsujuaq in Nunavik, was found dead in September 2023 in the two men's residence in the Montréal-Nord borough. The 41-year-old woman had been missing for several months.

Two separate statements of facts accepted by each brother were filed at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday afternoon.

The statements say the victim's family went to Kangiqsujuaq police on Sept. 18, 2023, to report her missing. They informed the police that she was in a relationship with someone named "Frank" and provided the man's address.

The family explained to police that people went to the man's house three different times to see Tukkiapik, but he would not let him. The file was sent to the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and officers went to the home, but no one answered. 

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

Officers find body under blanket

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

"Immediately, upon entering, the officers noticed a strong smell of a dead body," Nicodemo's statement of facts says. "The house was a complete mess and was in unsanitary conditions."

Officers noticed the shape of a human on the couch, covered by a blanket. Underneath the blanket, they found the body. Nicodemo was placed under arrest, and he immediately began telling police he feared the woman's family — thinking her brother would kill him.

He also admitted the body had been there since around Feb. 12.

On Oct. 19, 2023, Francesco was arrested at the Atwater shopping mall. Investigators had been searching for him, checking shelters and other resources for the unhoused he was known to frequent.

Police learned Francesco and Tukkiapik had been living together for many years. They moved into the family house a few years ago, staying there on and off.

Tukkiapik refused to seek medical care

In his statement of facts, Francesco said he first met Tukkiapik 10 years before and "he loved her very much, only second to God."

Prior to her death, the pair went to a motel for two weeks. According to him, Tukkiapik was bleeding from her buttocks because she was stressed.

When she was bleeding, Francesco bought and changed her bandages, the statement of facts says. When they got back home, she was weak and had difficulty entering the house. 

He told her to go see a doctor several times, but she refused. He didn't call 911 because she didn't want to go to the hospital. He slept next to her for two to three weeks before she died, the statement of facts says.

On the day of her death, Nicodemo was at home in his bedroom when his brother came to tell him that Tukkiapik had died in the living room.

They moved her body from the floor to the couch. Francesco put a blanket over her and a flower on her chest. He said he would call the police, according to his brother's statement of facts.

But Francesco didn't notify authorities, and the next day, he told his brother about his fear of familial repercussions. 

They continued to live together, spraying air fresheners to cover the smell and avoiding the living room. Nicodemo worked long hours and left the house every day.

A few weeks before police arrived, Francesco left the house and never came back home, leaving his brother alone with the corpse. Francesco later told authorities he fled because Tukkiapik's family were asking questions and he was scared. 

"He lied to them because he thought he was going to get killed," his statement of facts says. "He is sorry and he wishes to change things. He says that he is already dead inside, that he died at the same [time] as Mrs. Tukkiapik."

In April 2024, an autopsy report was provided. The cause of death could not be determined due to the condition of the body. There were, however, multiple bandages and paper towels on her back and buttocks, beneath her clothes.

However, there was no visible lesion within the constraints of the body's preservation, nor sign of significant traumatic or pre-existing injury. 

The brothers are expected to be sentenced next week.