Actions of Hwy. 165 driver planned: SQ

This story has been updated.

MONTREAL – Denis Philippon was on a rare suicidal rampage that turned murderous when he crashed two vehicles into two others, killing himself and three others on Monday, including his 4-year-old son, police say.

“All the elements in the case lead us to believe his actions were not only voluntary, but planned,” SQ Sgt. Éloïse Cossette said Tuesday. She would not confirm whether or not a suicide note was found at the second crash site, as some media outlets reported.

Toxocology tests will be conducted on the 39-year-old Philippon’s body to determine his physical state when he died, she said.

Philippon and his ex-fiancé met on the side of Highway 165 southbound in Plessisville, about 180 kilometres northeast of Montreal shortly before 2 p.m. Monday. Their 4-year-old son Thomas was with them, Cossette said.

After a roadside argument, Philippon took his son and drove off in his minivan. It crashed into a Honda Civic, which was driving in the same direction, and rammed it off the road. Four people were riding in that car.

Two victims, Alexandre Fleury, 14, and his brother, Sébastien, 25, from St. Joseph du Lac, were pronounced dead in a hospital. Two women also riding in the car were treated for injuries, but are expected to survive.

A few minutes later, Philippon’s ex-fiancé arrived on the scene in a Dodge Dakota pickup truck. “He shoved her aside and stole her vehicle,” Cossette said.

Leaving the boy’s mother behind, Philippon took his son in the pickup truck and drove south another four kilometres down the same route to the town of St. Ferdinand, where he rammed into another pickup truck that was towing a trailer and a boat.

Philippon and his son died later in a hospital. The passengers of the other truck were sent to a hospital to be treated for shock. There was extensive damage to the trailer and the boat, and their debris littered the highway.

Writing on the social networking website Facebook on April 27 and April 28, Philippon, a Boisbriand resident, said he felt deeply rejected by his ex-fiancé but he vowed “to go forward for the kids, even if half of me is missing.”

Philippon reportedly left his home in Boisbriand about three weeks ago and went to the Plessisville area, reportedly to visit his mother.

In several exchanges with friends on Facebook April 27 and April 28, Philippon bemoaned his break-up with his former fiancé.

"I don’t understand it at all," Philippon wrote. "What can I do? No chance to talk about it; her decision was already made."

The following day Philippon wrote that "I will fight for my kids. When you make children, I think it’s for life."

More details to come.

Jason Magder of The Gazette contributed to this report