Paula Gallant’s husband appeared briefly in a Halifax courtroom yesterday to be arraigned on a first-degree murder charge.
Jason Wayne MacRae, 37, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged late that night. Gallant, 36, was found in the trunk of her car — parked outside the Timberlea elementary school where she taught — in December 2005.
“This is the first step in the criminal process,” said Denise Smith, chief Crown attorney for the Halifax region.
“He appeared along with his defence counsel, the charge was read and it was put over for a period of one month (Sept.17) to enable disclosure to be made.”
From there a date will be set for a preliminary hearing, and MacRae will remain in custody until a possible bail hearing.
Information came in a year ago that revitalized the Gallant murder investigation, said Halifax Regional Police Chief Frank Beazley at a press conference yesterday.
“There was an opportunity to put this investigation in a much more active role again after several years through new information coming to light, which allowed us to put our team together and continue the investigation,” he said.
Because the case is now before the courts, Beazley wouldn’t comment on what the new information entailed.
Autopsy
• Police have never released the cause of death of elementary school teacher and young mother Paula Gallant.
• An autopsy a few weeks after her body was found confirmed it was a homicide.
