Chelsea, Quebec mother charged with first-degree murder fit to stand trial

Chelsea, Quebec mother charged with first-degree murder fit to stand trial

by ADMIN on JANUARY 9, 2012

Sophie Fitzpatrick, shown here at a Chelsea Nordiq event in 2009, was killed Oct. 22. Her adoptive mother, Kathrine Dufresne, has been charged with first-degree murder. LD file photo

A Chelsea, Quebec mother charged with first-degree murder of her seven-year-old adopted daughter is fit to stand trial, a Gatineau courtroom heard Jan. 9.

Kathrine Dufresne, 53, appeared in the Quebec Court following a lengthy psychiatric assessment last fall. On Oct. 22, Murray Fitzpatrick arrived to his Kingsmere home from a business trip to find the body of his daughter, Sophie Fitzpatrick. His wife, Dufresne, was rushed to the hospital for serious injuries that are believed to be self-inflicted. She was charged with first-degree murder and Murray Fitzpatrick was cleared of any wrongdoing. Dufresne did not enter a plea, but her case was pushed back to Feb. 28.

Dufresne was staying in Institut Philippe-Pinel, a psychiatric hospital in Montreal, but will move to a detention centre – likely Tanguay, a women’s-only centre in Montreal – where she will remain on suicide watch.

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