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Coroner probes exposure death of Gilles Duceppe’s mother outside seniors’ home
MONTREAL — A Quebec coroner will investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Gilles Duceppe’s mother after the 93-year-old woman was found Sunday in the snow outside an upscale Montreal seniors’ residence where she lived.
The coroner’s office said Monday it will try to determine how Helene Rowley Hotte, mother of the former Bloc Quebecois leader, perished after leaving her building when a fire alarm sounded in the early hours of Sunday.
Police said she ended up locked out in the middle of a frigid snowstorm, and her body was discovered more than seven hours later.
Montreal police said the victim had hearing problems and likely didn’t understand the announcement that her part of the building — one of three wings in the complex — was not part of the 4:15 a.m. evacuation order.