Another Cleroux Victim?
Ottawa police have found human remains in a forest off of Albion Road, which they believe could be linked to the case against accused serial killer Camille Cleroux.
Cleroux, 58, is accused of killing ex-wives Lise Roy and Jean Rock, as well as former neighbour Paula Leclair, over a period of two decades.
Police returned to an area called the Fairlea Woods near the Trainyards neighbourhood to search for evidence connected to the trial, police say. The coroner was also at the scene Friday.
Police were also searching a second location in the same woods, about a kilometre away.
A woman at the scene who identified herself as a friend of Rock told reporters Friday she was desperate to find out if the remains were her friend’s.
The woman — who gave only her first name, Diane — said she and Rock’s family are looking for closure.
The search is expected to last a few days, police said. The remains will be sent to a Toronto forensic centre and the results may not be available for several months.
Accused killer agrees to trial
In March, Cleroux agreed to end his preliminary hearing and stand trial on three counts of first-degree murder. The hearing had originally been on hold while police examined remains found at his former home on Heatherington Road in south Ottawa.
Cleroux was arrested and charged in 2010 in the death of Leclair, 64, after her body was discovered in a wooded area south of the high-rise building on Fairlea Crescent where she lived.
Cleroux lived in the same apartment building as Leclair and had taken over her apartment, prompting her son to report her missing.
He was later charged in the deaths of two former wives. His first wife, Roy, disappeared in 1990, and his second wife, Rock, was last seen in 2003.