Montreal man, 55, charged with 2nd-degree murder in disabled wife's death

Michel Cadotte, 55, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, 60-year-old Jocelyne Lizotte.

Cadotte appeared at the Montreal courthouse Tuesday afternoon.

• Woman found dead in Montreal long-term care home considered a homicide

Lizotte had been living in a long-term care institution, the Centre d'hébergement Émilie-Gamelin, on Dufresne Street in downtown Montreal.

Montreal police received a call alerting them to the fact that she'd been found, not breathing, at 1:30 p.m. on Monday.

At 12:53 p.m., the dates of Lizotte's birth and death were posted to Michel Cadotte's Facebook page. 

The man's Facebook friends reacted with puzzlement — a question mark, then an abbreviated post, "I don't know why, but I have a feeling. Am I wrong?"

Then a question: "Michel Cadotte, is [Jocelyne] dead?"

Three minutes after that first post, another post went up.

"I cracked," the post reads, in colloquial French.

"Nobody asked me how I'm doing, however, you know, I gave in to her demand for help in dying. I'm waiting for the police."

Family had sought doctor-assisted death

Cadotte's nephew, François Cadotte, told CBC that Lizotte was living with Alzheimer's disease and that the family had sought a doctor-assisted death for her but was refused.

François Cadotte said his uncle took great care of his wife, visiting her at the long-term care home nearly every day and taking training to be an orderly, in order to better attend to Lizotte's needs.

He said the pair had been married for several years.

No obvious signs of violence

Sources told CBC's French-language service that Cadotte killed his wife to put an end to her suffering.

Radio-Canada learned that Lizotte had been ill for many years, and she had difficulty walking, eating and communicating.

Montreal police said that no obvious sign of violence had been found on the woman's body.

Cadotte is set to appear in court next on March 17.