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The man arrested last week after a woman disappeared in Hemmingford was 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 at the Valleyfield courthouse on Friday and was detained. When he appeared again on Wednesday, through a videoconference connecting the courtroom to a jail where he is detained, he was charged with murder.
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Gravel looked toward the floor often during his brief hearing and asked that it be held in English. A Quebec Court judge agreed to set Dec. 16 as the next date in the case. She also agreed to issue an order prohibiting Gravel from communicating with 10 potential witnesses while his murder case is pending.
Gravel cannot seek bail until his case is transferred to Quebec Superior Court.
The prosecutor in the case also asked that the case involving the lesser charge be closed.
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 Sept. 21.
Hemmingford is more than 60 kilometres south of Montreal, near the U.S. border.
The woman’s body was found last Thursday in a wooded area behind the home on Covey Hill Rd. where she lived. Gravel was arrested hours later.
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