The Nova Scotia government has paid out $100,000 for a tip that helped police lay murder charges in connection with a double homicide dating back to December 2012.
The government says the tip came through the Justice Department’s Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program, which offers a cash reward of up to $150,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in certain cases.
In this case, the tip resulted in second-degree murder charges being laid against Elmer Percy Higgins in connection with the deaths of 22-year-old Matthew Allan Hebb and 59-year-old Earle Clayton Stewart.
Police and emergency crews responded to a 911 call near the 450 block of Highway 374 near Sheet Harbour, N.S. on Dec. 12, 2012 after witnesses spotted a fire at a camp in the area.
Fire officials found the bodies of Hebb and Stewart, both of Spryfield, N.S., inside the burned-out cabin.
Their deaths were confirmed to be homicides.
The case was added to the Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program in January 2016. The government says an individual provided investigators with information in March 2017 that enabled police to lay charges in the case.
Elmer Percy Higgins and his wife, Karen Marie Higgins, were charged with second-degree murder and related firearms offences in the deaths of Hebb and Stewart in August 2017.
However, the charges against Karen Marie Higgins were dropped in February, and her 65-year-old husband died from a chronic health condition later that month – just a few days before his trial was scheduled to begin.
While the case never went to trial, the government says the individual who came forward with the tip has been paid $100,000.
“Each case is different, and several key factors are considered when determining if an award can be issued, and the value of the award, including the value of the information provided, the amount of risk the person or people undertook to provide the information, and the likelihood of the case proceeding with or without the information provided,” said media relations advisor Heather Fairbairn.
“Based on the information provided in this case, there was a realistic prospect of conviction.”
The Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program has been in place since 2006. This is the third time a cash reward has been paid out through the program.
In 2014, the program paid the maximum reward of $150,000 to an individual who came forward with information leading to a conviction in the 2011 Melissa Peacock homicide.
A second reward in the amount of $150,000 was given out in March 2016 in connection with the 2010 murder of Ryan White.
