BURNABY (NEWS1130) – The husband of missing Coquitlam mother-of-two Lancy Hu has been charged with her first-degree murder.

Zhongming “James” Mou will appear in court Monday.

Sgt. Jennifer Pound with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) says Hu’s body was discovered back on Aug. 27. “The Richmond RCMP received a call from two boaters that were out on the Fraser River near Steveston, and they had located a suitcase in the river. It ultimately turned out that Lancy’s body was  inside a suitcase.”

She explains police had good reason to keep the discovery quiet until now.

“In order to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation the fact that Hu had been located was not made public, and this allowed investigators to use a variety of techniques and gather sufficient evidence for charge approval,” she says.

Mou, 35, changed his story with police three times after his wife’s disappearance, and police always suspected foul play was involved.

The changing details in the husband’s account revolved around when he last saw his wife. At one point he told police he had seen her last at a home near Metrotown, then revised that, saying he had last seen her at their Coquitlam home.

Hu’s parents flew in from China and made a tearful plea for information on Aug. 24, three days before their daughter’s body was found. They said Mou didn’t informed them about Hu’s disappearance until three days after she went missing.

They also said their daughter was a vibrant, outgoing person who was a loving mother of her two young sons. Her father said the couple had had marriage difficulties.

Pound calls the discovery of the woman’s body and the murder charge a tragic outcome for Hu’s family.

“The Ministry of Child and Family Development has been engaged throughout the course of this investigation. Currently the children are under the care of Zhongming Mou’s parents.”

-with files from The Canadian Press