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A London homicide victim was a “beacon of light” who loved gardening, cooking and being with her family, according to her obituary.
Phy Puth, 64, was found dead inside her home at 994 Chippewa Dr., west of Huron Street and Clarke Road, on Jan. 6 after emergency crews were called around 7:30 a.m. to a report of a deceased person inside, police said. Officers arrested a man at the scene.
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Lee Couturier, 48, of London, is charged with second-degree murder.
“Though Phy may no longer walk beside us, her memory will forever be enshrined in the fabric of the lives of those Phy touched, a beacon of light guiding us through the darkness,” her obituary read. “In her absence, her spirit lives on – a gentle whisper in the breeze, a ray of sunlight on a cloudy day, a reminder that loves knows no boundaries.”
A visitation will be held Saturday from 1-2 p.m. at the Memorial Funeral Home, 1559 Fanshawe Park Rd., and a funeral will follow at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Puth worked for 35 years at Cargill – a food processing and agricultural company with operations across Southwestern Ontario – and enjoyed gardening, cooking and spending time with her family, the obituary read. “Phy will be fondly remembered as a kind-hearted, strong and compassionate individual.”
Puth and her husband, Seur Taing, who died in 2021 at age 69 after a 14-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, and their two daughters came to London from Khao-I-Dang, a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand, in 1987, according to his obituary.
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The couple bought the red-brick house on Chippewa Drive in 1996, property records show.
Court records show Couturier lived at the home with Puth.
Couturier appeared briefly in court by video link on the day of his arrest and was remanded into custody until his next appearance on Jan. 20. An assistant Crown attorney told the court he will oppose Couturier’s bail.
Puth is London’s first homicide victim on the year. Last year there were six homicides and police laid charges in all of the cases, the fifth straight year the force has achieved perfect clearance rate for killings.
“It’s a team effort,” deputy Chief Paul Bastien said of solving homicides.
Everyone from frontline officers and crime analysts to cyber crime technicians and forensic officers help the major crimes unit in their investigations, Bastien said, adding civilians also play an important role.
“We depend heavily on the willingness of people to come forward to speak to us,” he said.
Having a perfect clearance rate is a source of pride, but the families of homicide victims are always top-of-mind, Bastien said.
“Our work is . . . to provide an element of justice and closure once things go through to court,” he said.
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