Pamela Jean's ex-boyfriend threatened to kill her before she was found dead, Crown says

The man on trial for the death of a 27-year-old Longueuil woman had threatened to kill her before she was found dead in a Montreal basement, the Crown argued in their opening statement Monday.

Crown prosecutor Catherine Perreault told the jury that Pamela Jean tried to break up with the accused, her longtime partner Juan Fermin Palma, around Christmas 2012, weeks before her death.

Palma took the prospect of a break-up badly and called her repeatedly in the days that followed, Perreault said.

At one point, in front of several witnesses, Palma threatened to kill her if she left him, Perreault said.

Palma, 36, is on trial at the Montreal courthouse for first-degree murder in Jean's death.

The couple had been together for 12 years and had one child, Perreault told the court.

Body found in Montreal North

Jean's body was found on Jan. 4, 2013 in a closet under the stairs of an apartment building where Palma had been living, on Hôtel-de-Ville Avenue in Montreal North, testified Montreal police Sgt. Det. Andréanne Laplante, the Crown's first witness.

She had been reported missing to Longueuil police by her father on Jan. 1, she said.

Palma, wearing a plaid shirt with a tie and v-neck sweater, sat a behind a glass enclosure during the proceedings.

The 12-person jury, comprised of eight men and four women, was selected last week.

The Crown prosecutor is expected to call police investigators and family members, including Jean's mother, to testify.

The trial before Quebec Superior Court Justice Eric Downs is expected to last until late December.