Mother stabbed to death in ‘devastating’ femicide case

Ottawa police are calling the stabbing death Thursday morning in a park on Uplands Drive a femicide and describe the heroic efforts of witnesses protecting her children.

Officials said on Friday morning they charged 36-year-old Fsha Tekhle of Montreal with first-degree murder in connection to the fatal stabbing. He had a domestic relationship with a family member of the victim, Brkti Berche, 36.

“This devastating event is femicide,” Trish Ferguson, deputy police chief, told media at a press conference on Friday. “We take these matters very seriously and our hearts go out to the family.”

This homicide is the 17 incident in the nation’s capital this year, with a total of 22 victims.

A femicide is defined as the killing of women and girls because of their gender. Police note their definition is “the misogynist killing of women and girls because of their gender, overwhelmingly committed by men.”  

This marks the second time police are using the term “femicide” since the force decided to use it for gender-related crimes in 2022.

Berche, was at a park at 10:26 a.m. on Oct. 24 with two of her four children when she was stabbed to death. Ferguson said witnesses to the incident not only went to Berche’s aid but also made sure that her two children were protected.

Bystanders assisted police with “crucial” detailed descriptions of the suspect who was seen fleeing the area of Uplands Drive and Paul Anka Drive in a vehicle.

“They (witnesses) also demonstrated an incredible compassion to protect the children,” Ferguson noted in her remarks. “With the help of the public, who did some tremendous and courageous things yesterday, it was because of this that we were able to arrest him.”

Tekhle was arrested just after noon on Highway 417 outside of Ottawa near exit 66 in Casselman, southeast of the nation’s capital, en route to Montreal, investigators believe.

Ferguson called the arrest “dangerous” and “unpredictable.”

The accused was scheduled to appear in court on Friday morning.

The number of homicides in Ottawa has stayed consistent over the last several years, with police investigating either 15 or 16 cases annually over the last three years. This is a decrease from 24 homicide investigations in 2016.