The Homicide Unit of the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division has laid charges in relation to the 2012 homicides of Matthew Hebb and Earle Stewart.
On December 12, 2012, emergency personnel responded to a 911 call near the 450 block of Highway 374 after witnesses observed a fire at a camp near Sheet Harbour. Upon further investigation, fire officials found the bodies of two men, 22-year-old Matthew Allan Hebb and 59-year-old Earle Clayton Stewart, both from Spryfield. Both deaths were confirmed to be homicides.
The Integrated Homicide Unit arrested two people on December 18, 2012 in relation to the homicides. They were arrested again in March 2017. Those individuals were later released without charges however on August 9 they were both arrested at a Halifax residence without incident.
Sixty-five year-old Elmer Percy Higgins and 49-year-old Karen Marie Higgins are charged with Second Degree Murder and related firearms offenses.
“Today’s charges represent over four years of tireless investigative work,” says Insp. Trudy Bangloy, Officer in Charge of the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division. “Our investigators persevered and in the end, it is our hope that we find answers for the Hebb and Stewart families.”
Both are scheduled to appear at Dartmouth Provincial Court later today.
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Source: Media Release