On 23 January 1918, Marie-Anne Caron died of tuberculosis at the Beauport Asylum. The next week, Télesphore married Marie-Anne Houde. The villagers were suspicious when two of her children soon died, but there was no investigation. During this time, Télesphore was beating Aurore with an axe handle. At age 10 in September 1919, Aurore was hospitalized for more than a month at the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec. She had a very bad infection in her leg caused by a beating. When she was released from the hospital, the beatings started again.