Following a preliminary inquiry that wrapped up on Thursday at the Salmon Arm, B.C., courthouse, Derek Lee Matthew Favell was ordered to stand trial.
Favell is accused of killing his former girlfriend Ashley Simpson, 32, who disappeared from the North Okanagan in 2016.
After years of uncertainty over what had happened to Simpson, police said a tip from the public led to her remains being discovered in a wooded area outside Salmon Arm in November 2021.
A week later a charge of second-degree murder was approved against Favell.
A publication ban covers the evidence presented at this week’s preliminary inquiry.
The case is scheduled to be back in court in Kamloops on Dec. 5 to fix a date for trial.
— with files from Kathy Michaels