Murder trial hears of rare moment of peace before mother’s death
Catherine de Boucherville spent her final hours alive in the mistaken belief her long nightmare was about to end with an amicable divorce, the slain woman’s daughter told a jury at her father’s murder trial on Monday.
Ahmad Nehme, 53, is on trial on a charge alleging he murdered his wife, de Boucherville, inside the condo they were renting on July 5, 2012. The couple’s daughter, Dania Nehme, was 16 years old when she heard her mother cry out for help and then saw her father’s hand and clothing “covered in blood” before she called 911 to report that her mother had been attacked. But when asked to describe what had happened in the minutes leading up to the homicide, Nehme said the atmosphere in the home was a rare moment of peace.
“My mother was in a good mood. She said my father said (their divorce) would be amicable,” Nehme, now 21, told the jury hearing her father’s first-degree murder trial at the Montreal courthouse.
Earlier in the day, she had described life with her father as “hell on Earth,” especially the last four years before her mother was killed. The accused’s daughter (and a neighbour who testified before her) said Nehme appeared to be obsessed with unfounded suspicions that de Boucherville had been unfaithful.
The couple considered a divorce and made plans to meet with a notary to draw up plans for an amiable split, Nehme said, adding her mother was led to believe, by Ahmad Nehme, that she could have custody of both their children after she found an apartment.
One thing that stood out that morning, Nehme said, was that her father had not slept at home. But while she was getting dressed, she heard her father come in the front door. She said she heard him make a routine anger-filled announcement that he and de Boucherville had something to discuss. In response, her mother said it would have to be quick because she was about to visit her sister.
This appeared to set her father off, Nehme recalled, because suddenly her mother “screamed like she had never screamed before.”
“She yelled, ‘Dania call the police!’ I called out for my mother and she didn’t answer,” the daughter said.
She exited her bedroom to see what happened and saw her father. His right hand and much of his clothing was covered in blood. She added that she did not look inside the bathroom where her mother had been stabbed.
“My father said, ‘Call an ambulance. Don’t look,’ ” Nehme said while sobbing.
She called 911 and left the condo but was worried about her brother, who is two years younger than her and is autistic. Minutes after the police arrived, an officer exited the home with her brother.
“He asked me, ‘Is there a murderer in the house,’ and I said I wasn’t sure if Maman was still alive,” Nehme said.
Before recounting her mother’s final moments alive, Nehme said her father’s controlling nature intensified while she was 13 and was attending École Musulmanes de Montréal in Notre-Dame-deGrace. She said her father became very upset when he learned she had spoken to boys at school.
“He cut off the cable, internet, cellphone, laptop, everything (for six months),” Nehme said, adding she was only allowed to leave home to go to school or to visit relatives.
She also recounted how her father ruined her high school graduation because she had spent time with friends after the graduation ceremony. She had asked for permission to do so from her mother, but did not ask her father. When he found out, she said, he lost his mind. She recalled standing in her graduation gown as he hurled a series of insults at her.
“He said, ‘You’re so ugly. I wish you were never my daughter. You’re a slut. You’re a whore,’ ” the young woman said.
The trial resumes on Wednesday.