Man wanted in Stittsville domestic assault found dead

A woman who was found badly beaten inside a home on Hartsmere Drive in Stittsville Wednesday morning remains in critical condition in hospital.

Ottawa police received a call about a domestic dispute at 9:30 a.m. at 64 Hartsmere Drive and arrived to find a woman badly beaten.

Hours later, policefound the body of a man who, they say, was a suspectlocated near the Stony Swamp trail.

Police would not confirm the identities of the man or the woman taken to hospital and said because children were involved, they would not be making any further comment.

Neighbours identified the couple living in the home as Peter and Theresa Lefebvre and told CBC News the two were in the process of separating.

Neighbours said couple was separating

Neighbour Graydon Gardner identified the woman being carried out on a stretcher as Theresa Lefebvre.

Gardner said he haslived two houses down from the Lefebvres for the past two years and described them as a nice, quiet family.

But a couple of weeks ago,he said something changed.

"He had told me at one point there when we were working in the backyard that he was going to be going through a separation," said Gardner. "And, you know, he was pretty stressed over it like we all would normally be. He just loved his kids so much and that's what he was telling me, and, you know, he was really taking it hard."

Woman beaten with baseball bat

A source told CBC News the woman was beaten with a baseball bat, and that a man had called 911 to say he had killed his wife.

The man then drove to a wooded area nearby and killed himself, according to the source.

Dozens of police officers had focused their search near the Stony Swamp trail and used dogs to aid in their efforts.

A license plate of the vehicle parked near the entrance to the trail was registered to Peter Lefebvre.

Police said they found the body on the trail but did not provide any other details, other than to say they do not suspect foul play.

The partner assault unit is handling the case.

Two Catholic schools and one public school in the area locked their doors but continued to function in what is called a secure school situation but lifted the precaution after consultation with police.