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Man arrested in killing of Montreal woman attacked during work Zoom call

Click to play video: 'Concerns over Quebec’s 18th possible femicide this year after woman killed while on Zoom call'
Concerns over Quebec’s 18th possible femicide this year after woman killed while on Zoom call
RELATED: Leila Ben Salem was on a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon and later found dead after police were called to her condo for a wellness check. Her union is mourning her death while women's groups are calling attention to what they describe as another femicide. Felicia Parrillo has the story – Sep 24, 2026

Montreal police say they have arrested a 33-year-old man in connection with the killing of a 45-year-old woman in a downtown apartment building last month who was attacked while on a Zoom call.

Police said Youcef Moussaoui, who was wanted on an arrest warrant, was arrested Thursday afternoon in the Ville-Marie borough downtown.

He is expected to appear at the Montreal courthouse Friday, where police say he will be charged with first-degree murder.

Click to play video: 'Quebec woman killed while on a Zoom call'
Quebec woman killed while on a Zoom call

The arrest stems from the death of Leila Ben Salem, a 45-year-old woman who was found unresponsive inside an apartment building on René-Lévesque Boulevard near St-Christophe Street on Sept. 22.

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Police say officers were called to the building at about 3:25 p.m. for a wellness check and found the victim unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Police initially classified the death as suspicious before the case was transferred to the homicide unit. Sources later confirmed to Global News that the woman was on a work-related Zoom call when she was attacked.

Investigators remained at the scene the following day, examining the apartment building, processing the crime scene and reviewing surveillance footage as they worked to determine the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death.

Police say the killing was not related to intimate partner violence. They said evidence gathered during the investigation, including the alleged motive, will be made public during the court process.

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