There is no indication that the stabbing of a Jewish woman in Montreal early on the morning of Jan. 27 was motivated by hate, says Rabbi Reuben Poupko, chair of security for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
He said CIJA accepts what police have told them, that this appears to have been a random act of violence. The 27-year-old woman was stabbed in the neck while walking alone around 12:45 a.m. on Monkland Avenue, near Girouard Avenue in the Notre-Dame-de-Grace borough.
The 25-year-old suspect, who fled the scene, was apprehended with the help of a police canine unit shortly afterward hiding under a balcony nearby.
The woman’s condition was upgraded to stable after initially being considered critical.
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The suspect is reportedly a recent parolee with a history of violent crime. Police said he was probably under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack. Robbery does not appear to have been the motive.
He was scheduled to appear in court Jan. 28 to face a charge of attempted murder.
That the victim was Jewish was confirmed by Rabbi Yisroel Bernath, director of Chabad NDG, who visited her at the Montreal General Hospital where she underwent surgery.
He said her family has asked for privacy.
The woman is reportedly a master’s student who was walking home from the Villa Maria metro station when she was attacked. Her husband has asked that they not be identified.
Rabbi Poupko noted that the woman was not visibly Jewish.
UPDATE: The suspect was identified as Mathew Roberge, who was on probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2014.
