Police ethics committee clears 5 officers in case of woman's stabbing death

The police ethics committee has cleared five police officers of any blame in the 2010 stabbing death of a Montreal North woman.

The committee ruled Wednesday afternoon that the five officers involved in the case — Danny Chicoine, Éric Sabourin, Estelle Motta, Geneviève Leclerc and Marcel Thifault — took the case seriously.

The ruling comes five years after Maria Altagracia Dorval was stabbed to death in her Montreal North home.

An internal police investigation was launched after the 28-year-old was murdered on Oct. 17, 2010.

Dorval had recently separated from her husband, Edens Kenol.

She first filed a complaint with Montreal police in September 2010, when she called to tell them she was worried after Kenol had come to her house.

Officers told her that all he had done was knock on the door and there were no charges they could lay against him.

One month later, Dorval returned to the police station and told officers she was worried. Police told her to get a lawyer and call 911 if anything happened.

The next night, police were called to the home — details of what transpired are protected under a publication ban.

A few days after that incident, Dorval was stabbed to death.

The police ethics committee said the five officers were working with the information they had. They searched Dorval's home to ensure her ex-husband wasn't there, and Dorval said she was not afraid and did not want to be taken to a shelter.

Dorval's ex-husband was arrested, tried and convicted of murder. Kenol is serving time, but he is appealing his conviction.

Although today's ruling cleared the officers who worked on the case, the Montreal police department is still facing a lawsuit. Dorval's family is suing, asking for $650,000 in damages for her death.