Charges have been dropped against one of the people accused in the deaths of two men at a cabin near Sheet Harbour, N.S. in 2012.
Police and emergency crews responded to a 911 call near the 450 block of Highway 374 on Dec. 12, 2012 after witnesses spotted a fire at a camp in the area.
Fire officials found the bodies of 22-year-old Matthew Allan Hebb and 59-year-old Earle Clayton Stewart, both of Spryfield, N.S., inside the burned-out cabin.
Their deaths were confirmed to be homicides.
The RCMP say a man and a woman were arrested in connection with the case on Dec. 18, 2012 but they were released without charges. They were arrested again in March 2017, but were released without charges a second time.
The same individuals were arrested a third time in August 2017 at a home in Halifax. This time, 65-year-old Elmer Percy Higgins and his wife, 49-year-old Karen Marie Higgins were charged with second-degree murder and related firearms offences in the deaths of Hebb and Stewart.
The victims’ families had made several public pleas for information over the years, and the homicides were added to Nova Scotia’s Rewards for Unsolved Crimes program.
At the time, police said a tip that came through the program was what enabled them to eventually lay charges against the couple.
However, the charges against Karen Marie Higgins were dropped Wednesday in Dartmouth provincial court.
“The appearance this morning was quick. It’s effectively signaling to the court that we will be headed to the Supreme Court to commence trial dates for Mr. Higgins,” said Crown prosecutor Mark Heerema.
The Crown says the case is due in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Feb. 15.
Earle Stewart’s wife, Tracey Stewart, previously told CTV Atlantic that her husband and the Higgins had been friends for years.
