A 55-year-old man from Little Ridge making a brief court appearance in Saint John on a charge of second-degree murder.
Irving Hastey was charged on December 27th in the death of 52-year-old Crystal Tracey of St. Stephen.
The woman’s body was found Christmas Eve in a home on Schoodic Street in St. Stephen.
Hastey sat in the prisoner’s box wearing an orange jumpsuit and nodded to a group of people sitting in the gallery.
He has not entered a plea and the matter was set over until April 12th for a preliminary hearing.
A charge of break and enter was withdrawn by the Crown.
Judge Henrik Tonning will have another judge take over the case as Hastey breached a no-contact order with Tracey that he issued.
Hastey will stay in custody until his next court appearance.