MONTREAL, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Police have arrested a suspect in the beating death of an elderly nun at a Montreal convent.
Montreal police Constable Lynne Labelle said Estelle Lauzon, 81, was found dead by a janitor who heard her screaming for help at about 8:35 a.m. Monday, the Montreal Gazette reported Tuesday.
Labelle said Lauzon suffered severe head injuries and contusions on her body, leading investigators to believe she was beaten, strangled or struck with an object.
The constable said a 31-year-old man who lives in a wing of the convent that serves as a halfway house for former drug and alcohol abusers has been arrested and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday on second-degree murder charges.
A driver for the convent, who requested his name not be revealed, said Lauzon was the only nun who regularly visited the six men who lived in the halfway house portion of the convent.
"There are security codes for the doors," the driver said.
"It's not usually dangerous," he said. "We never had problems before. The nuns are shocked. This goes against everything they stand for."
