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

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.

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.

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.

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.