A Nova Scotia couple is facing murder charges in connection with the death of a 27-year-old Dartmouth woman last year.

Victoria Ann Weir, 26, of Sydney Mines and Dustin Brian Hales, 37, of Dartmouth each face a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Christina Kathleen Cline.

Hales was arrested near Truro Saturday night after being pulled over police, while his wife was arrested in an apartment in Cape Breton three hours later.

They are accused of killing Cline, Hales’ former common-law partner with whom he has three children.

Neighbours say Cline, Hales and Weir all lived together at a home in Dartmouth but that Hales and Weir moved out prior to Cline’s murder.

Their children had been living with Hales but are now with Community Services following the arrests.

“Well, Christina’s gone. You can’t bring her back, but we don’t want her kids reliving that either,” says neighbour Jacqui Wells.

A man walking through Shubie Park found Cline’s body on a remote trail known as Vivian’s Way shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2011.

Weir and Hales were arrested and questioned shortly after Cline’s death last year, but were released without charges.

“So, this investigation took place over the course of the last year, and recently the file was made to the point where charges could be laid,” says Const. Pierre Bourdages.

Neither Hales nor Weir has a criminal record.

Hales works at the Canadian Forces Naval Operations School at CFB Halifax as a weapons engineering technician.

They are due in Dartmouth provincial court on Dec. 19.

Meanwhile, there are other developments in the case.

An RCMP diver searched Lake Banook Monday morning near the Circumferential Highway bridge, close to where Cline’s body was discovered.

“The accused were interviewed, and as part of the investigation it was learned this area of Lake Banook needed to be searched again,” says Bourdages.

The diver recovered a number of items, including a woman’s coat, purse, and a plastic bag with something inside it, among other items.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl