HALIFAX – The RCMP charged a 30-year-old man with second-degree murder Friday in connection with the deaths of two people found in a house fire in Halifax.
Codey Reginald Hennigar from Wyses Corner, N.S., is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 81-year-old Clifford William Ward and 54-year-old Mildred Anne Ward, both from Wyses Corner.
RCMP said late Friday afternoon the cause of death of another person discovered later inside the home Old Guysborough Road was deemed a homicide. The police said the body is in such poor condition that it will take time to identify it. Hennigar was not charged Friday in connection with that death.
Hennigar appeared in Dartmouth provincial court wearing a red fleece jacket, looking down at his clasped hands as he sat on the prisoner’s bench. He was originally arraigned on first-degree murder, but that was later discovered to be an error. His case was adjourned to Jan. 30.
The fire at the home broke out Wednesday at around 4:30 p.m.
The home is in a rural, wooded area about 25 kilometres northeast of Halifax’s airport.
Sources say Hennigar is related to the Ward family, and court documents list 5336 Old Guysborough Road as his address. Police would not confirm a relationship between Hennigar and the victims, or say whether Hennigar was known to authorities before the fire.
Church said Hennigar was taken into custody at about 12:45 a.m. Thursday after someone rammed two police vehicles with a car in the Milford area, about a half-hour drive from the scene of the blaze.
Autopsies have been completed on the bodies of Clifford and Mildred Ward, but Church would not release their causes of death.
Heather Teepell, a close family friend of the Wards, has set up an online fundraiser to collect money to help offset the burial costs.
With files from Natasha Pace, Global News
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