BELLEVILLE, Ont. – Friends and family members gathered Saturday in the Ontario community of Belleville to mourn the death of Jessica Lloyd, one of two women a high-ranking military officer is accused of killing.
Lloyd’s funeral comes as the investigation continues into Col. Russell Williams, the former commander at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.
Williams is charged with first-degree murder in the strangling death of Lloyd, 27, who went missing on Jan. 28.
Her body was found on Feb. 8, in the woods in the nearby community of Tweed, where she lived.
Police patrolled the parking lot outside the funeral home Saturday as black-clad mourners arrived for the funeral service.
Friends visiting the funeral home a day earlier had described Lloyd as a friendly, easygoing young woman.
Her death shocked the tight-knit city of 50,000, which is located about 185 kilometres northeast of Toronto
Williams, 46, is also charged with murdering Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, his subordinate at the Ontario airbase.
He also faces charges in two sexual assaults that saw the victims bound naked to chairs and photographed by their attacker.
Williams is being held at the Quinte Detention Centre, near Napanee, Ont., with his next court appearance set for Thursday in Belleville.
In a statement this week, Williams’ family said they are “shocked and appalled” by the charges and that they have had only minimal contact with him in recent years.
Comments