Montreal man, 55, charged with 2nd-degree murder in disabled wife's death

Michel Cadotte, 55, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, 60-year-old JocelyneLizotte.

Cadotte appearedat theMontreal courthouse Tuesday afternoon.

• Woman found dead in Montreal long-term care homeconsidered a homicide

Lizottehad been living in a long-term care institution, the Centre d'hbergement milie-Gamelin, on Dufresne Street in downtown Montreal.

Montreal police received a call alerting them to the fact that she'd been found, not breathing, at 1:30 p.m. on Monday.

At 12:53 p.m., the dates of Lizotte'sbirth and death were posted to Michel Cadotte'sFacebook page.

The man's Facebook friends reacted with puzzlement a question mark, then an abbreviated post, "I don't know why, but I have a feeling. Am I wrong?"

Then a question: "Michel Cadotte, is [Jocelyne] dead?"

Three minutes after that first post, another post went up.

"I cracked," the post reads, in colloquial French.

"Nobody asked me how I'm doing, however, you know, I gave in to her demand for help in dying. I'm waiting for the police."

Family had sought doctor-assisted death

Cadotte's nephew, Franois Cadotte, told CBC that Lizottewas living with Alzheimer's disease and that the family had sought a doctor-assisted death for her but was refused.

Franois Cadotte said his uncle took great care of his wife, visiting her at the long-term care home nearly every day and taking training to be an orderly, in order to better attend to Lizotte's needs.

He said the pair had been married for several years.

No obvious signs of violence

Sources told CBC's French-language servicethat Cadotte killed his wife to put an end to her suffering.

Radio-Canada learned thatLizotte had been ill for many years, and she had difficulty walking, eating and communicating.

Montreal police said that no obvious signof violence had been found on the woman's body.

Cadotte is set to appear in court next on March 17.