Que. woman dies after collision with husband
The Canadian Press
April 17, 2008

MONTREAL -- The head-on crash that killed Renee Bourbeau was much like many other drunk-driving accidents on Canadian roads - except for one horrible coincidence.

The alleged drunk driver who smashed into Bourbeau's minivan was her husband, Patrick Laflamme. That reality is weighing heavily on a Quebec family attempting to come to grips with the death of Bourbeau, described as sweet-natured sister, gentle aunt and devoted mother.

"It's extremely hard right now and my entire family wants a piece of Patrick -- everyone is really upset," Emmanuelle Bourbeau, the victim's sister, told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.

"My sister had no business to leave us so soon."

Laflamme plowed his truck into the van the 41-year-old mother of two was driving on Saturday evening in Drummondville, Que.

Laflamme, 36, was charged in his hospital bed on Tuesday with drunk driving causing death. He was recovering from leg fractures and head lacerations.

Quebec provincial police say Laflamme had left a local bar and was just minutes from home when the spectacular crash occurred.

Renee Bourbeau had been with Laflamme at the bar earlier in the evening and had left without him.

Later, police allege, Laflamme was driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic and slammed into his wife's vehicle in the 90 km/h zone.

Detectives weighed whether they were dealing with a tragic accident or a premeditated act and decided it couldn't be the latter, said police spokesman Louis-Philippe Ruel.
Ruel said darkness had settled in just after 8 p.m. and a heavy rainfall had made visibility poor and the roadway slick.

"Afterwards, we found that the man and the woman were a couple and it was the unhappiest of circumstances that they met on the road that night," Ruel said.

Bourbeau died in hospital a few hours after the collision.

Adam Bourbeau, 20, a nephew of the victim, said he has met Laflamme on a handful of occasions and called the roofer a charismatic guy.

Emmanuelle Bourbeau said Laflamme's drinking was the cause of some friction in her family but he seemed to be a hard-working, affable guy.

The couple were about to celebrate their two-year anniversary this week and things were going well, she said.

Laflamme and Renee Bourbeau, who had previously owned a marketing business in Drummondville, recently worked roofing jobs together and she helped him install temporary car shelters.

"My sister was the most generous person on earth, the person who always helped others and she always had a solution to everything," Emmanuelle Bourbeau said.

"She was just really nice."

Renee Bourbeau leaves behind two boys, 22 and nine. Laflamme is not their father.
Laflamme has no previous record.

A clean record is common in drunk-driving fatalities, says Andrew Murie, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada.

"Somewhere between 85 and 90 per cent of the deaths caused by alcohol related crashes are people that are not known to the criminal justice system," Murie said.

A separate drunk driving charge could also be tacked on once blood-alcohol tests return, Ruel said.

Ruel said there were traces of alcohol in the suspect's car.

Laflamme returns to court on June 13, but in the interim he cannot drive or consume alcohol.