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Background: News footage of the courthouse in Montreal where the Sansalone brothers pleaded guilty on Wednesday (CityNews/YouTube). Inset: Alasie Tukkiapik (Facebook).
A woman went missing for months before police visited the Montreal home of her boyfriend and his brother — and when they did, they found her “mummified” remains.
According to reporting by Canadian news outlet CityNews, Alasie Tukkiapik, 41, was first reported missing in March 2023. She was known to be dating a man named “Frank,” later identified as Francesco Sansalone, 63, who lived with his brother Nicodemo Sansalone, 61. While many people came to the Sansalone’s door looking for Tukkiapik, the brothers refused to let anyone in, prosecutors said.
When police were in the neighborhood on Sept. 18, 2023, Nicodemo Sansalone came out of his home and joined the conversation. According to courtroom reporting by the Montreal Gazette, he told an officer, “She is there on the couch. She [has been] laying on the couch for the last six months.”
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When the Sansalone brothers appeared in a Montreal courtroom on Wednesday to enter their plea, prosecutor Simon Lapierre read aloud a joint statement of facts surrounding the case. In the statement, Lapierre described what happened when the officers met by Nicodemo Sansalone entered the brothers’ home, saying, “Immediately upon entering, the officers noticed the strong smell of a dead body. The house was a complete mess and was in unsanitary conditions.”
As the officers went inside, “they noticed a human silhouette on the couch underneath a blanket with the feet sticking out. Underneath the blanket, the officers found the corpse of Mrs. Tukkiapik who was in a mummified state.”
Nicodemo Sansalone reportedly told officers that he “should have called to let you guys know. But my brother Frank didn’t want me to call you and he ran away a few weeks ago,” adding, “He left me alone with her.”
He also reportedly provided officers with the day Tukkiapik died: Feb. 12, 2023. As he was being arrested, he said, “I wish l could go back in time.”
Francesco Sansalone was eventually apprehended by police and arrested weeks later. According to Lapierre, Francesco Sansalone had been dating Tukkiapik for several years when he noticed that she began bleeding from her buttocks while they were staying at a motel, but he wrote it off as a symptom of stress.
According to prosecutors, when the couple returned to the Sansalone home, Tukkiapik grew weaker but reportedly refused to be taken to a hospital. She eventually passed away, and the brothers moved her body to the living room couch, where she remained for the next six months.
Prosecutors said they attempted to cover the smell of decay with air freshener.
The autopsy on Tukkiapik did not provide a specific cause of death due to the condition of her body. However, there was no evidence of a traumatic injury or substance that could be linked to a cause of death.
Both brothers, after a monthslong delay, pleaded guilty to charges related to the indignity caused to Tukkiapik’s body and neglecting to notify authorities of her death.