Just a month ago, Denis Philippon reached out to friends through a social networking site about the breakup of his relationship.
In a lengthy Facebook chat, Philippon talked about moving forward from the pain for the sake of his children.
That was in late April - and something went terribly wrong since those messages were posted.
Police now say Philippon may have deliberately used his car as an instrument of death in separate accidents that killed four people Monday, including himself and his own four-year-old son.
Provincial police Sgt. Eloise Cosette says an investigation into the case could take several weeks.
"The elements that we've got so far lead us to believe it was a voluntary action and one that was planned," Cossette said Tuesday. She wouldn't say if police found a suicide note; tests for drugs and alcohol have been ordered.
The crashes occurred 10 minutes apart near Plessisville, southeast of Montreal.
Police say witnesses reported seeing a van that was being driven erratically during the afternoon.
The van first steered into the path of a small car and killed two brothers, 25-year-old Sebastien Fleury and his 14-year-old brother Alexandre, both from St-Joseph-du-Lac.
Two passengers in their car were injured.
The van driver then apparently stole the vehicle of his ex-wife, a pickup truck, and slammed into a second truck just minutes later.
Philippon, 39, and his four-year-old son Thomas were killed in the second crash.
On April 27, he was expressing his unconditional love for that child.
He told his Facebook friends that his ex-fiancee had left their home and - despite feeling like "half of me is missing" - he was determined to carry on.
"Thanks for your support," he told his friends after they expressed their sympathy.
"I will always fight for my kids. When you make kids, I believe it's for life. I think I was the only one to feel that way."
Quebec man who killed four with his car spoke of breakup pain weeks ago
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Published on
May 25, 2010
- Published on July 1, 2010
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The Canadian Press ~ The News
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