SAGUENAY, Quebec, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Four members of a Canadian family found slain in their home last week died in a murder-suicide pact, police confirmed Sunday.

The bodies of Marc Laliberte, 46, of Saguenay, Quebec, and his children Joelle, 12, Marc-Andre, 7, and Louis-Philippe, 4, were discovered in a house in a quiet residential area early Friday, along with Laliberte's severely injured wife, Kathy Gauthier-Lachance, 36, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.


After considering the evidence for three days, Quebec provincial police investigators now say it's likely the parents had a pact to first kill their three children and then themselves. Gauthier-Lachance, however, survived the alleged pact and has been hospitalized in an intensive care unit for blood loss from knife wounds, the broadcaster said.

The three children appear to have been strangled or poisoned, police said, adding there is enough evidence to pursue first-degree murder charges against Gauthier-Lachance.

Relatives told the CBC Gauthier-Lachance had been working at a shopping mall in Saguenay, but lost her job just before Christmas.