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At Chez Doris, a women’s shelter in Montreal, staff had heard all about Jessie Quannaaluk’s abusive boyfriend.

Paul Brown, a problem drinker, had been charged with conjugal violence several times over the decades. This included reportedly physically and emotionally abusing Ms. Quannaaluk, 55, originally from Arctic Quebec.

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“He keeps me from going out and hurts me,” the woman told a Journal de Montréal reporter who happened to be at Chez Doris this month.

“I came here because I managed to escape.”

Two days after the interview, on Feb. 18, Mr. Brown’s body was found in the stairwell of his apartment building, stabbed repeatedly in the chest.

Hours later, Ms. Quannaaluk was arrested and charged with his murder.

On the last day of his life, Mr. Brown, 57, appeared in court, charged with sexual offences involving minors under the age of 14.

‘He keeps me from going out and hurts me. I came here because I managed to escape’

The man was declared dead in the Verdun building where he reportedly lived alone. Officers said he was “known to police,” law enforcement code for a lengthy criminal record.