Quebec advocates warn of femicide crisis after Brossard murder-suicide

One day after a man and women were found dead inside of their Brossard home, investigators are calling the tragedy a murder-suicide.

Marcos Amilcar Diaz Lopez, 56, and his wife, Sonia Maricela Gonzalez Vasquez, 54, were found dead shortly after midnight on Monday.

According to police, the couple appeared to have suffered stab wounds.

“We can confirm that the police service actually went to that address a few times and we actually intervened with these victims before,” said Jacqueline Pierre, a spokesperson with the Longueuil police.

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Court records show that Diaz Lopez was facing charges for assaulting Gonzalez Vasquez twice in 2024.

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He was granted bail but ordered to wear an electronic tracking device and keep at least one kilometre of distance from the woman.

In May 2025, however, all of the conditions imposed on him were dropped.

“This femicide is a fail for all of our society,” said Ruba Ghazal, Quebec Solidaire co-spokesperson. “I’m really afraid about this situation.”

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If confirmed, the tragedy would be the sixth femicide in Quebec so far this year.

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Five women have already been killed in confirmed femicides in January alone, a number advocates call staggering.

“We are extremely concerned about the safety of women in their intimate partner relationships,” said Claudine Thibaudeau, a clinical coordinator with SOS violence conjugale.

“We’re concerned because we know how prevalent intimate partner violence is and we know that it cam get dangerous.”

Thibaudeau says preventing more deaths requires more shelter space, more front-line support and more resources for women trying to leave violent situations.

Experts say prevention also has to look at what’s happening before violence erupts — including untreated distress and mental health struggles among men.

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“When you feel terrible about your life, when you feel stressed, the tendency is to look for who is responsible and why is this happening,” said Cécile Rousseau,  professor at McGill University Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry.

“I think populist governments throughout the world have designated migrants, but also women, as scapegoats.”

Victims of domestic violence can contact SOS violence conjugale at 1-800-363-9010.