Fatal fire in Montreal: unfit to stand trial due to alcoholism

A septuagenarian accused of killing a nonagenarian woman in a fatal fire in 2021 has been declared unfit to stand trial due to his alcoholism.

Oscar Nelson Gonzales, 72, will therefore not be able to stand trial until his condition improves, a jury ruled Thursday afternoon at the Montreal courthouse.

In December 2021, Gonzales was charged with the manslaughter of Rita Ash Plamondon, 97, and the arson of the Anjou Seniors’ Residence in Montreal, which occurred three months earlier.

Few details have, however, been made public in the case, since the evidence heard at the preliminary inquiry is subject to a publication ban.

“He remembers that there was a fire and the death of a person, but he does not say he is accused of anything,” forensic psychiatrist D testified on Wednesday.^D Marie-Alice Sanchez during a hearing.

The accused was an alcoholic and had been hospitalized several times in the past. This had affected his cognitive abilities, in particular his memory, indicated the doctor at the National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry Philippe-Pinel.

So much M^e Jade Coderre of the Crown as M^e Simon Leduc of the defense agreed that the accused was now unfit to stand trial.

But since he had opted for a jury trial even though he was competent, it was the 12 citizens who had to decide whether he was competent.

Gonzales therefore finds himself under the supervision of the Mental Disorders Commission for an indefinite period.

-With Michael Nguyen