A 35-year-old Montreal man with a lengthy history of violent crime has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with a fatal stabbing at a Plateau Mont-Royal dépanneur.
Police say the victim, Chong Woo Kim, a man in his 50s who owned the corner store, was stabbed multiple times. According to the Montreal police service, emergency responders attempted to assist him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The suspect, Xavier Gellatly, was later located and handcuffed inside the Desjardins Complex in downtown Montreal. He was then taken to hospital to be treated for a deep cut on his hand.
The killing sparked a major police operation across the city, with officers deployed to several stations in Montreal’s Metro network as investigators believed the suspect used public transit after fleeing the scene.
Gellatly appeared at the Montreal courthouse on Friday to face the first-degree murder charge.
Court records and past media reports show he has a long criminal history in both Quebec and British Columbia, including numerous convictions for violent offences and animal cruelty.
In 2012, Gellatly killed Chelsea Holden, a 28-year-old mother of two, inside the Cobalt Hotel in Vancouver. During the same incident, another man was stabbed seven times. Gellatly was convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Police had said there was a fight between two groups of people at the hotel and Holden was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
