CANADA Canada- Hélène Monast, 18, attacked after celebrating her 18th birthday, found nude, w. multiple bite marks & strangled, Montreal (Chambly) 10/9/77

[dotr]

Helene Monast – September 11, 1977

Helene Monast (red top) On Saturday, September 10th, 1977, Helene Monast was celebrating her 18th birthday at Chez Marius pizzeria in Champly, Quebec. Exiting Chez Marius, the 5&#821…

theresaallore.com

Helene Monast (red top)
''On Saturday, September 10th, 1977, Helene Monast was celebrating her 18th birthday at Chez Marius pizzeria in Champly, Quebec. Exiting Chez Marius, the 5’3″. 125 lbs girl waved goodbye to her brother, Yves and crossed rue Bourgogne, entering the Canal Chambly park on the banks of the Richelieu river.''

Helene was escorting her friend, Christiane home. Helene intended to spend the night with her aunt. At 11:15 pm Christiane and Helene parted company. This is the last sighting of Helene Monast. ''


''The following morning, Sunday, September 11, 1977 a woman looks out her bedroom widow and sees a body lying across the street in the Chambly park, “underneath a large tree”, approximately 75 feet from rue Bourgogne, near the Chambly monument. Helene’s body is found in the park across the street from Chez Marius.

Helen was found naked except for her shirt which was pulled up to her arms. She was wearing a Timex watch, a necklace. She was lying on her back. Clothing was found next to her body: blue jeans, sweater of the same color, an earring in the grass. She had been strangled to death.

Other items found in the area: a plastic cup, a pack of Export A cigarettes, a box of Chiclets. Missing is Helene’s purse.

There are two accounts of her shoes: one says her shoes were missing, the other says her shoes were there next to the body with her socks neatly placed in them. In the second account, the shoe laces were missing.

According to Helen’s sister, Nicole, investigators asked her family at the time of the discovery whether Helene wore shoes with laces. When Helene’s sister saw the body she noticed a thin line along her neck from strangulation.'

''The autopsy confirms death by strangulation, but no evidence of rape. The doctors observe the following, “she had been cruelly struck with multiple bite marks on the body, especially a breast.”, which then lead to the conclusion of a sex-crime.''

Hélène Monast was walking home from an evening out celebrating her 18th birthday when she was killed in a Chambly park in 1977. ( Sûreté du Québec)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/hélène-monast-cold-case-reopened-in-chambly-1.3223835
''The night before her body was found, Monast had been at a local restaurant celebrating her 18th birthday. She was attacked and killed on her way home as she walked through the park.''

Hélène Monast – Cold cases

The naked body of Hélène Monast, 18 years old, was discovered around 8:20 a.m. on September 11, 1977, in a park along Chambly Canal, behind 224, rue Maurice.

www.dossiersnonresolus.com

File number : 103-770911-004

Hélène Monast​

EVENT DATE : SEPTEMBER 11, 1977
CHAMBLY
18 YEARS OLD
The naked body of Hélène Monast, 18 years old, was discovered around 8:20 a.m. on September 11, 1977, in a park along Chambly Canal, behind 224, rue Maurice. None of the leads pursued during the investigation has led to solving the crime.
If you have any information that could help solve this crime, contact the Centrale de l’information criminelle of the Sûreté du Québec at 1 800 659-4264.''

 

[BlueJayBirdie]

2016 Montreal Gazette article about Hélène Monast & her family. Very detailed

Cold cases leave families in the dark

"For Hélène in the summer of 1977, there was nothing she wanted more than to turn 18 that September. She dreamed of studying to become a veterinarian, but spent the summer packing beans at a cannery, working bingo nights at the local arena and babysitting as much as she could. She’d tell Nicole of how she craved the freedom and new adventures she figured would come with adulthood."


Video from article shows park location. Spokesperson for Sûreté du Québec is interviewed, only in French:

Found this Sept 2015 TVHR / Eric Latour interview with Nicole Monast, Hélène Monast's sister. Entirely in French. She clearly is her sister's advocate. Interview is first 15 minutes of video:

Hope that recent successful investigations of other Quebec cold cases, Sharron Prior, Guylaine Potvin mean that the Monast family will finally get some answers

 

[BlueJayBirdie]

Started doing a deep dive of the Hélène Monast case last night. I'm left with some questions.

Was the crime-scene evidence properly collected & well-preserved?

I read that the Chambly, Quebec local govt & police department had issues with corruption in the past. But I couldn't find articles about this from 70s & 80s.

In 1994 Chambly police dept was taken over by Sûreté du Québec:

Quebec police control town after raid - UPI Archives

"The Quebec provincial police force is in control of suburban Montreal police department following a huge raid Thursday that netted 140 people, including 20 police officers. A spokeswoman for the Surete provinciale de Quebec said Friday as many as 20 people, including two police officers, from the town of Chambly, 20 miles south of Montreal, will be in court Friday to face charges of drug trafficking, fraud and prostitution."


In 2019 it happened again:

Hours after police raids, Chambly placed under trusteeship

"Quebec municipal affairs minister Andrée Laforest said on Wednesday that the South Shore city of Chambly has been placed under provincial trusteeship.

Laforest’s announcement was made a few hours after Quebec’s anti-corruption unit (UPAC) launched early-morning raids targeting the municipality’s city hall, municipal garage and administrative offices."





Did this history of corruption go back to the 70s? Could it have affected the investigation? even if the Sûreté du Québec seems to have been part of Monast case from beginning according to the Theresa Allore site:

Helene Monast – September 11, 1977

Helene Monast (red top) On Saturday, September 10th, 1977, Helene Monast was celebrating her 18th birthday at Chez Marius pizzeria in Champly, Quebec. Exiting Chez Marius, the 5&#821…

theresaallore.com

View attachment 431050

Helene Monast – September 11, 1977 says that SQ led the investigation:

"Gaston Rioux of the Surete du Quebec in Montreal."

"Interestingly the lead investigators are identified as Gaston Rioux and Jacques Marceau of the Montreal SQ, not anyone from the Chambly municipal police."