Found Deceased Canada - Samantha Higgins, 22, LaSalle, QC, 6 July 2015 *Arrest*

[matou]

Fontanelli is also using the same defense attorney (Jean-Marc Tremblay) as in his previous case. Link to come.

 

[matou]

Hopefully, he will plead guilty like he did earlier. JMO

 

[Dd70]

If you have time, would you mind please taking some photos of the surrounding area, like the turnoff to the road that leads to the river and the general river area. I'm curious about whether it appears to be a well marked trail, or if it is a place that locals would most likely know.

Otto
I did not see this request. Sorry already been there & back

It's actually a lovely rest area with picnic table and shade as it is near the bike path. It has a three car wide boat launch drive that goes directly down to the river on the north side of the bridge.

Google: https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.201834,-73.8541869,20z/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[Joe Friday]

Swedie, I was thinking along the same lines as you. It's very probable the NF intercepted SH on her walk home. Early details on social media described her as being "incoherently drunk" when she left the friend's house, so if would have been quite easy to convince her to get into the car. From there it's pure speculation. Did they argue and things escalated from there? Did she pass out and NF snapped and kill her then?

i also thought of something else. Early reports indicated her last phone call or text message was timestamped at 1:10 or 1:40am. However I also read somewhere else that the last cell phone signal was sent out around 5am near the McDo on Newman and Lasalle. Since then, I have not read anything in the media reports to support this.

It's late and I've read so much over the past week and half that I cannot recall where I had seen this. Does this ring a bell to anyone else?

I don't think NF intercepted Samantha while she walked home that night and killed her somewhere other than at their home.

The 10 week old newborn would have woken up and been screaming had NF left the baby home alone. The 10 week old screaming would have likely woke up the four year old and maybe even the neighbors. The four year old would have then realized NF was not home. I'm sure the four year old would have told someone that NF was gone during the night, if this were the case.

Taking a four year old for a two hour car ride at 2:00 AM in the morning to dump off the body would have also been something I think a four year old would tell someone about. My suspicion is that NF took the 10 week old with him when he dumped Samantha's body and left the four year old home sleeping in bed.

JMO

 

[Cardiac]

We have heard that the victim was a devoted mother, the suspect was a devoted father, that the couple were high school sweet hearts who have been together for seven years (that can't be true), and that they were wonderful, sweet, innocent people. We have also heard that he was controlling, he had custody of their daughter for much of the child's life (therefore they were not together for seven years), that her grandmother had custody for four months, and so on. There are obvious contradictions between what people say about the couple, and the reality of their relationship.

We heard from the people that hosted the party that they were bashed (media report) for allowing Samantha to walk home alone, and now we know that there was nothing wrong with letting her walk home alone. She arrived home safely. Those same people that bashed the party host made claims about the couple. They were wrong about the party host (I'm curious whether there was an apology), and they were wrong about the suspect. What are the chances that they were also wrong about the victim? It's not that unusual for those close to a victim to whitewash the victim's history.

I pretty much agree with everything said here. When the FB tribute page was first a page dedicated to finding SH a lot of people not close or familiar with the family asked very simple questions like was NF abusive, controlling, did they have a rocky relationship, was she suffering from post-partum depression, etc. All the responses were swift and quick: no, not at all, never, absolutely not.

Since the arrest we now have people coming forward such as the grandmother who are now confirming that the relationship between the two was not all sunshine and rainbows. I'm going to choose my words more carefully here considering I was called out the last time I spoke ill about the family. You can call it naivety, a disconnect with reality, ignorance or a whitewash. It's obvious that either a) the family and friends really didn't know what was going on, b) they knew the truth but chose to paint a rosey picture because they were so desperate to find SH or c) they knew but didn't feel is was a factor because this behaviour (unstable relationship between parent, children being shuffled around home to home, etc.) is seen as "normal."

 

[Joe Friday]

Their relationship seems to have been quite up and down, where he had custody of their daughter for a year more, Samantha's grandmother had custody for 4 months, Nick fought for custody of their daughter, Samantha lived with her mother when she was pregnant with the second child, Nick picked their daughter up from childcare ... it seems like it was a community effort to raise the daughter.

Was he really upset that she had been drinking from 7PM-1AM, and then perhaps she intended to handle a 10 week old infant? Did they argue when she came home and it all went wrong? Was he trying to protect the children and they fought hard?

When NF was first arrested the motive for murdering Samantha was reported as jealousy.

Why do I get the feeling that maybe one of the friends Samantha was having fun with on the night before she was murdered, might be than just a friend.

I would imagine while Samantha and NF were separated, Samantha maybe had a boyfriend. I wonder if one of the friends Samantha was with that night might of been more than just a friend at one point in time and this made NF angry.

JMO

 

[Sjm_qc]

The fact that he is charged in the Montreal district, means the initial crime has been commited in Montreal... Do they take kidnapping as the initial crime or the murder act?(could be strangling or drugged). If initial crime occured in Ormstown, he would be charged in the Valleyfield district.

There is no kidnapping charge

Otto
I did not see this request. Sorry already been there & back

It's actually a lovely rest area with picnic table and shade as it is near the bike path. It has a three car wide boat launch drive that goes directly down to the river on the north side of the bridge.

Google: https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.201834,-73.8541869,20z/data=!3m1!1e3

Thank you for going there.

Regarding all the comments about various possible custody issues (sorry, I'm having problems bringing the posts forward/quoting properly ), where is that information coming from? Custody/child related court cases are usually private here in Qc ...

I do remember that there was a thread on the FB page for Samantha (to which I no longer have access), concerning "Elizabeth House" (it's an entity not a person) & friends she made/knew there were posting....


The mention of Pinel/Guy Turcotte just makes me ... That particular case was far too close to home .

 

[Sjm_qc]

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/j...li-de-voleur-repenti-a-suspect-de-meurtre.php

Thank you to the poster who provided this link.

From it, I learned that NF was still on probation from his previous conviction.

Also:
A quick search of the lawyer's name provides some interesting results; and I'm having enormous trouble finding the court reports of NF's 2013 conviction.

 

[matou]

He admitted to the crime shortly after learning Higgins was pregnant, saying that he panicked and that there was a custody battle after his daughter was born.
Because he pled guilty, he avoided jail time and instead received a suspended sentence and two years probation.

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/man-suspected-of-samantha-higgins-murder-had-legal-history-1.2471413

 

[eucalyptuz]

Sorry for the long post...I started writing it yesterday...

So, with the new details of the last couple of days how do you think this horrible thing played out? A workable scenario but still so many questions....

-NF calls SH at the party, worried about her... tells her it's about time she came home.

-She leaves and makes her way home perhaps sensibly avoiding the crowd that congregates in the McDonalds carpark after closing time. I think if I were a tipsy girl in a pink dress on the streets after midnight I would probably avoid places where hoards of men (often drunk) might be gathering.

-SH arrives safely at home but now later than expected? Drunker than expected? Argumentative?
A situation escalated resulting in the death of SH. It could be anything from a powerful slap and a fall against furniture to...a strangling...or a struggle climaxing in a frenzied attack? I think she was dead not long after reaching her front door.

-NF chooses not to call ambulance or police and then decides he has to get rid of the body.
He probably has 5-6 hours of night time ahead of him where his only interruptions would be from the baby as most 4yo sleep right through. Possibly the 4yo was even already staying downstairs with Grandma?

-Sometime during the night the text comes in from friend asking SH if she made it home safe. He has to allay suspicion so he texts back without thinking about the broader ramifications. He later in the night realizes his error and at some point quickly runs out to dump the phone near the McDonalds. Perhaps, having a little knowledge of technology, he continues to call the phone to deflect suspicion.

-Later in the night or first thing in the morning he gets his Mom to mind the kids and asks to borrow the car. Maybe he mentions to Mom that SH stayed out and he's going to pick her up/look for her?

-He drives a route he knows to rural areas in the SW. Why does he scatter the remains? Why not put everything at the deep river? I think the shallow creek came first and he realized he error and tried to find deeper water
Or maybe it was to delay identification? Speed up decomposition?

Back home he has much to clean up or maybe he has already dumped linens/covers etc?
And then he sounds the alarm at midday?

I don't really understand the dates on the second charge of indignity to the body - mainly because I can't make it fit with my scenario

 

[Joe Friday]

Sorry for the long post...I started writing it yesterday...

So, with the new details of the last couple of days how do you thing this horrible thing played out? A workable scenario but still so many questions....

-NF calls SH at the party, worried about her... tells her it's about time she came home.

-She leaves and makes her way home perhaps sensibly avoiding the crowd that congregates in the McDonalds carpark after closing time. I think if I were a tipsy girl in a pink dress on the streets after midnight I would probably avoid places where hoards of men (often drunk) might be gathering.

-SH arrives safely at home but now later than expected? Drunker than expected? Argumentative?
A situation escalated resulting in the death of SH. It could be anything from a powerful slap and a fall against furniture to...a strangling...or a struggle climaxing in a frenzied attack? I think she was dead not long after reaching her front door.

-NF chooses not to call ambulance or police and then decides he has to get rid of the body.
He probably has 5-6 hours of night time ahead of him where his only interruptions would be from the baby as most 4yo sleep right through. Possibly the 4yo was even already staying downstairs with Grandma?

-Sometime during the night the text comes in from friend asking SH if she made it home safe. He has to allay suspicion so he texts back without thinking about the broader ramifications. He later in the night realizes his error and at some point quickly runs out to dump the phone near the McDonalds. Perhaps, having a little knowledge of technology, he continues to call the phone to deflect suspicion.

-Later in the night or first thing in the morning he gets his Mom to mind the kids and asks to borrow the car. Maybe he mentions to Mom that SH stayed out and he's going to pick her up/look for her?

-He drives a route he knows to rural areas in the SW. Why does he scatter the remains? Why not put everything at the deep river? I think the shallow creek came first and he realized he error and tried to find deeper water
Or maybe it was to delay identification? Speed up decomposition?

Back home he has much to clean up or maybe he has already dumped linens/covers etc?
And then he sounds the alarm at midday?

I don't really understand the dates on the second charge of indignity to the body - mainly because I can't make it fit with my scenario

BBM

It's been reported they had their own car.

According to our sources, it would be the only place where crime scene specialists were dispatched, except where Montérégie Higgins remains were abandoned. The old car of the accused, a Volkswagen Jetta was also inspected to try to establish if it was used to transport the corpse.

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/07/15/le-fiance-a-deja-evite-la-prison

 

[Sjm_qc]

He admitted to the crime shortly after learning Higgins was pregnant, saying that he panicked and that there was a custody battle after his daughter was born.
Because he pled guilty, he avoided jail time and instead received a suspended sentence and two years probation.

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/man-suspected-of-samantha-higgins-murder-had-legal-history-1.2471413

Thank you .

[Semantic Tangent]: so did he admit to the crime [which was committed] shortly after his daughter was born, or did he admit to the [committed previously to daughter's birth] crime after she was born?

Quite probably completely irrelevant, but you can see from that why reporters hate me .

 

[periwinkle blue]

The La Presse article suggests that it was much later than noon when her absence was reported. It says (rough translation) that according to their information, NF and a member of her family went to a police station at 9:00 p.m. on the 7th to report her absence.

Il était environ 21 h le 7 juillet lorsque Nicholas Fontanelli et un membre de la famille de Samantha Higgins se seraient déplacés dans un poste de police pour signaler la disparition de la jeune femme de 22 ans, selon nos informations.

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/j...li-de-voleur-repenti-a-suspect-de-meurtre.php

 

[munns]

There is no kidnapping charge



Thank you for going there.

Regarding all the comments about various possible custody issues (sorry, I'm having problems bringing the posts forward/quoting properly ), where is that information coming from? Custody/child related court cases are usually private here in Qc ...

I do remember that there was a thread on the FB page for Samantha (to which I no longer have access), concerning "Elizabeth House" (it's an entity not a person) & friends she made/knew there were posting....


The mention of Pinel/Guy Turcotte just makes me ... That particular case was far too close to home .

Elizabeth House is a school in NDG run by the EMSB for pregnant high school students. It allows young women to continue their secondary studies while pregnant or following the birth of their child, and also teaches them life skills, parenting skills etc...

 

[swedie]

He admitted to the crime shortly after learning Higgins was pregnant, saying that he panicked and that there was a custody battle after his daughter was born.
Because he pled guilty, he avoided jail time and instead received a suspended sentence and two years probation.

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/man-suspected-of-samantha-higgins-murder-had-legal-history-1.2471413

Did I read somewhere which stated he won a custody battle for his daughter? I see this article states there was a custody battle...but did he win it eventually? IMO if that was the case, there is something seriously wrong with our judicial system which would allow him to win custody of his child after the crime he committed back in 2010. :scared:

 

[Sjm_qc]

Did I read somewhere which stated he won a custody battle for his daughter? I see this article states there was a custody battle...but did he win it eventually? IMO if that was the case, there is something seriously wrong with our judicial system which would allow him to win custody of his child after the crime he committed back in 2010. :scared:

BBM: I don't know, that's why I asked about it too; I can't find any official records (privacy is normal in family law here).

 

[Mountaingazer]

Did I read somewhere which stated he won a custody battle for his daughter? I see this article states there was a custody battle...but did he win it eventually? IMO if that was the case, there is something seriously wrong with our judicial system which would allow him to win custody of his child after the crime he committed back in 2010. :scared:

I read somewhere, maybe the Samantha facebook page, that the custody battle was for him to regain joint custody. So by "winning" he was able to re-establish joint custody and have her by himself for periods of time when the two were estranged. Consider that rumor though, just comments I read.

 

[Cardiac]

I read somewhere, maybe the Samantha facebook page, that the custody battle was for him to regain joint custody. So by "winning" he was able to re-establish joint custody and have her by himself for periods of time when the two were estranged. Consider that rumor though, just comments I read.

Even if it's a rumor, it makes sense. SH probably didn't want him around the baby given what he was into at the time and he probably had to fight for joint custody or visitation rights. The laws in Quebec and Canada will very, very rarely grant the father SOLE custody, so I would be surprised if that were the case.

 

[~n/t~]

I don't think NF intercepted Samantha while she walked home that night and killed her somewhere other than at their home.

The 10 week old newborn would have woken up and been screaming had NF left the baby home alone. The 10 week old screaming would have likely woke up the four year old and maybe even the neighbors. The four year old would have then realized NF was not home. I'm sure the four year old would have told someone that NF was gone during the night, if this were the case.

Taking a four year old for a two hour car ride at 2:00 AM in the morning to dump off the body would have also been something I think a four year old would tell someone about. My suspicion is that NF took the 10 week old with him when he dumped Samantha's body and left the four year old home sleeping in bed.

JMO

Or maybe he didn't have the kids at all that night? His parents could have been caring for them. Perhaps Samantha's parents thought he had the children. Was it confirmed whether or not the kids were with him that night other than SH parents saying so?

 

[Joe Friday]

Or maybe he didn't have the kids at all that night? His parents could have been caring for them. Perhaps Samantha's parents thought he had the children. Was it confirmed whether or not the kids were with him that night other than SH parents saying so?

Early on in the case I figured since NF was home it was because he was watching the kids. I also figured if the kids were being watched by NF's parents that NF would have been together with Samantha at the friends house having a good time.

Now with the information we know of NF being on house arrest for his prior conviction, I have to think maybe he couldn't go out of the house at all.

If NF was on house arrest, why would his parents be watching the kids?

(I think the 24 years is supposed to be 24 months)

The parties agreed to recommend a sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community. He is under house arrest 24 hours during the first 24 years of his sentence, except for work or study.

After his arrest, Fontanelli has still managed to finish high school and start a small business landscape maintenance. "He is able to be structured," his lawyer argued, adding that "it is on the road to rehabilitation."

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/j...li-de-voleur-repenti-a-suspect-de-meurtre.php