BROSSARD, Qc - A woman in her 50s has been arrested in connection with the murder of an elderly woman in Brossard, according to Mark David of the Longueuil Police who announced the news late Monday morning.

The victim, aged 78, was a British immigrant who inhabited the same home in Brossard for 40 years. She was wheelchair-bound and still spoke with an accent from the old country.

The victim and the other woman were linked but police would not reveal details of their relationship. The suspect was arrested in Montreal around 9 a.m. Monday morning.

It was the first homicide this year in the South Shore city of Longueuil, which numbers about 400,000 residents.

The body was discovered Saturday morning after the woman's friend rang Longueuil police to report that she had not received news for some time. The friend had visited but there was no answer at the door.

One neighbour said that the victim was quiet and usually alone.

"She was very sick and remained at home mostly alone. Sometimes a guy came with her but most times I saw nobody else." Other neighbours told CTV Montreal that the occasional male visitor was the woman's son.

Another recalled an outgoing woman wish good wishes to passersby. "We should just wave and she'd say, ‘have a nice day.'"

Initially investigators visited the home at 5260 Beliveau Ave. and found nothing. They had to make a second search before they came across the corpse of the woman.

Only after tactical squad officers and homicide investigators examined the residence did the police conclude that she was murdered, according to police rep Gaetan Durocher. The investigation is ongoing and an autopsy is expected to discover more about how she was killed.

At first, police took the exceptional measure of asking media not to interview neighbours for fear that it might corrupt the investigation.