Family slain in U.S. RV park
Quebec senior among dead in bizarre attack by man on relatives
A domestic dispute turned violent at a Florida trailer park Thursday night, leaving three dead, including one elderly Canadian, and two injured.
Broward County police say 76year-old Ovila Plante, of La Tuque, Que., is dead after a Florida man shot him in the chest before shooting him in the head.
Police allege William De Jesus, 41, shot Plante following a confrontation in front of the Quebec man’s motor home inside Highland Woods RV Park, a quiet campground at Deerfield Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Plante had been living in the home with his Québécois girlfriend, Pierrette Beauchemin, who police describe as in her 70s, when De Jesus drove up to the man’s home in a red Mustang, accompanied by his wife and two young children.
Around 6:20 p.m., police say a fight broke out between Plante and De Jesus.
De Jesus shot Plante after the Canadian allegedly pushed him. De Jesus then took his wife and children, ages 9 and 7, hostage inside Plante’s RV, which was still occupied by Beauchemin. She somehow managed to flee to officers on the scene, police say.
Around 12:30 p.m. Friday, a SWAT team stormed the RV to find De Jesus and his son, 9, dead. Homicide detectives determined both died from stab wounds.
De Jesus’ wife, Deanna, and daughter, 7, were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
“They’d all been stabbed,” said police spokesman Jim Leljedal.
“Apparently (William) De Jesus stabbed his children first, then stabbed his wife and then himself,” Leljedal said.
Police have spoken to De Jesus’ injured wife and son, who are in “serious condition” but are expected to survive.
Authorities believe there was no relationship between De Jesus and the Canadians.
“There’s no indication that they knew each other at all; it just appears to be totally random,” said Leljedal.
“We’re going to try to put together the facts as we know them. But it doesn’t appear there’s anyone to charge.”
Autopsies on the victims were to be conducted later Friday. While police called the nearly seven-hour standoff a “bizarre ordeal,” it remains unclear why Plante confronted De Jesus in the first place. “It was devastating to everyone who worked here all night long to have a little boy (dead) at the end of it,” Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Dani Moschella told the Miami Herald. Bob Hess, store manager of nearby A to Z Guns and More, told the Star that the motor home park contains many “expensive” RVS with licence plates from Ontario and Quebec. The incident has officials at the sheriff’s office working to piece together just what motivated the man to kill a Canadian he didn’t know and then launch a bloody attack on his own family before killing himself. “It’s a very bizarre incident and it appears to be totally random,” Lel- jedal told The Canadian Press. The park where the incident took place is located about 30 kilometres north of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and is popular with Canadians, say staff at the facility’s office. “It’s a very peaceful park,” said Leljedal. “That’s what makes this so bizarre.” When contacted at his father’s home in La Tuque, Plante’s 50year-old son said he didn’t want to talk about the tragedy. “It’s my father,” Gerald Plante told The Canadian Press. “There must be at least 40 people who have called, but we have to keep on working, despite our pain,” Plante said. “People haven’t stopped calling, but we’re just asking for a little bit of respect and to wait a day or two and then we’ll talk (about it).”