Shot through the heart: Montreal cop shot lover dead while playing with gun

    Bertrand Bergeron, 23, a cop hired by the Outremont police department four months earlier, had a habit of playing with his gun.
   This was particularly bad news for his lover Mrs. Anna Czechowski, 20, who he shot dead on 2 August 1951.
   Czechowski had abandoned her husband and seven-month old son two weeks earlier to live with Bergeron. 
   The couple spoke in English, which Czehkowski did not understand well.

  Bergeron had a habit of constantly playing with his police revolver and one day it went off at a place they shared at 2577 Boubonniere.

  He accidentally discharged his gun about about one inch from Czechowski's chest and struck her in the heart, killing her instantly.
    Bergeron phoned police immediately and reported that he was playing with the revolver when it discharged.
    Anna had abandoned her husband John Czechowski, 24, and their home at 3061 Hochelaga 13 days prior. He had seen her only three times since.
   The accident occurred in a building owned by Norman Vigeant whose wife testified that Bergeron dashed out of the room and immediately explained that he shot the woman by mistake.
   She did not report hearing any arguments.
   The victim's son, if still alive, would now be aged about 67.
   Bergeron pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December 1951 to two years in prison for manslaughter. He would be aged about 100 now if still alive.