Initially, he had been charged with causing an indignity to the woman’s body.
The man arrested last week after a woman disappeared in Hemmingford is expected to be charged with second-degree murder Wednesday afternoon.
Initially, Nicholas Gravel, 31, was charged last week with causing an indignity to the woman’s body. He made his first court appearance on Friday and was detained for a court hearing on Wednesday. When he appears at the Valleyfield courthouse Wednesday afternoon, he is scheduled to be charged with the murder.
A publication ban has been imposed on the court case, which prohibits media from identifying the woman.
In a statement issued by the Sûreté du Québec two weekends ago, the provincial police said the woman was last seen on Sept. 21 around 12:30 p.m. However, the charge filed against Gravel last week alleges he “did improperly or indecently interfere” with the woman’s body between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21, an indication police now believe she died days before she was reported missing.
The murder charge alleges the woman was killed between Sept. 15 and and Sept. 21.
Hemmingford is more than 60 kilometres south of Montreal, near the U.S. border.
The woman’s body was found Thursday in a wooded area behind the home on Covey Hill Rd. where she lived. Gravel was arrested hours later.