A SCOTS pensioner is to stand trial in Canada next year accused of murdering his former partner and hiding her body.
Andrew Watson, 77, was arrested by detectives investigating the disappearance of Lise Fredette, 74, last November.
A judge in Peterborough, Ontario, has now ruled there is enough evidence for the pensioner to stand trial for murder despite no body being found.
Mr Watson, originally from Edinburgh, represented himself at a preliminary hearing in the case, which was held to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.
Following the hearing, Justice Robert Beninger ruled that while the case against Mr Watson was circumstantial, it was strong enough for the him to face trial on charges of first-degree murder and criminal harassment.
He said: “On the whole of the evidence that I heard, there is nothing in Ms Fredette’s background, or day-to-day life, that logically leads to the conclusion that she voluntarily left everybody and everything that was important to her. The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming. The inferences that reasonably and logically flow from the evidence also provide sufficient evidence for a trier of fact to find that the murder was planned and deliberate.
“The Crown has a circumstantial case for first-degree murder. The Crown has had to connect the dots to establish a reasonable and logical inference that the defendant unlawfully killed Ms Fredette while he was committing criminal harassment. I find that there is evidence upon which a reasonable and properly instructed jury could convict the defendant of both charges as alleged by the Crown.”
Mr Watson, who emigrated to Canada several years ago, was arrested 10 days after Ms Fredette was last seen leaving her job at a Walmart store on November 12 last year. Her glasses and keys were found next to her car at home and there was blood in her driveway.
Detectives have searched a number of areas using dogs, heat-seeking equipment, divers and a ground penetrating radar.
There has been no trace of the victim, who was declared dead days after she went missing.
A Facebook campaign has been set up in a bid to uncover the mother-
of-two’s last resting place. Her family raised the alarm after she failed to show up for her shift.
Prosecutors claim that Mr Watson, “who did not accept that the relationship had ended”, killed Ms Fredette on the same night she was last seen before concealing her body.
The preliminary hearing included nine days of evidence and three days of submissions from prosecutors and Mr Watson.
Members of Ms Fredette’s family were at the Peterborough Ontario Court of Justice to hear the judgment in the case.
Mr Watson, who is being held in custody, is due to return to court on January 26 for the start of pre-trial proceedings.
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