Police have suspect, but no motive after death of construction worker
Brian Blondin, 62, found dead last week inside his apartment, woman charged
Ottawa police homicide detectives are trying to determine a motive in the slaying of a 62-year-old construction worker inside his Little Italy apartment last week.
Co-workers continue to mourn Brian Blondin, who was found stabbed to death inside his home on Sidney Street Friday evening.
It was the second homicide in less than 24 hours in the capital.
On Halloween night, staff at Ottawa Inner City Health found 39-year-old Austin Simon, a carpenter, bleeding out on the sidewalk near the Shepherds of Good Hope shelter on Murray Street.
It would take two days for detectives to arrest 33-year-old Ignace Kayiranga and charge him with second-degree murder in what police believe is a drug-related killing.
As officers continued to hunt for Simon’s attacker on Friday, they received information that someone else had been killed in the city and where to locate his body. Officers arrived at Blondin’s apartment at 7 Sidney St. to discover the man dead on the floor.
His alleged killer later turned herself in to police. Nichole Hover, 44, has been charged with second-degree murder.
The extent of the relationship the two had is not yet clear.
Though they didn’t live together, Hover’s last known address is just two blocks away on Pamilla Street in the same neighbourhood.
Hover has an extensive criminal record, which includes multiple convictions for assault and assault with a weapon that date back to 2010.
She’s also been convicted of resisting arrest, theft and mischief to property. Her most recent convictions were handed down in 2018 for assault with a weapon and criminal harassment.
Before his death, Blondin was working in construction for Claridge Homes, helping to build a retirement home in Orléans. Several of his co-workers declined to speak to the Citizen about him.
One, however, wrote on Facebook that although he had only known Blondin for two weeks, Blondin had made him feel welcome on the job.
“He made a huge impression on me and I am sad for him.”
Blondin has a single criminal conviction from 15 years ago. In 2004, he was convicted of committing fraud. At the time, he was living at The Salvation Army on George Street.
Hover remains in custody. Ottawa police have laid charges in all 12 homicide cases they have investigated in 2019.
A police-involved fatal shooting in January remains an open case for the Special Investigations Unit. With files from Aedan Helmer
He made a huge impression on me and I am sad for him. EX-CO-WORKER OF BRIAN BLONDIN’S, in Facebook comment