Halifax police charge N.B. man with murder in death of woman 12 years ago
Posted March 23, 2017 10:04 am.
Last Updated March 23, 2017 1:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – A New Brunswick man has been charged with second-degree murder almost 12 years after the body of a 26-year-old woman was found in a Halifax apartment.
Investigators in the cold case unit of the Halifax Regional Police said Thursday that Donald Murray Peters, 50, was arrested without incident in Saint John, N.B., a day earlier and appeared in court in Halifax to face the charge.
The arrest comes after Naomi Kidston was discovered in an apartment on River Road in the Spryfield area on June 7, 2005, with her death being ruled a homicide soon after.
Halifax police Supt. Jim Perrin said over the last several months, police re-examined exhibits, reviewed the evidence and interviewed witnesses again, which led to the laying of the charge.
“This is a significant time duration and the message we’d like the public to take from this is that these serious files remain under investigation,” Perrin said. “We’re pleased that we were able to lay a charge in this case.”
At the time, police determined she was last seen alive early that morning at the same home, but have not revealed the cause of death. Police say Peters and Kidston knew each other through common friends.
Perrin said investigators had been in touch with Kidston’s family to notify them of the arrest.
“All we can hope from today’s developments is that they’re on the road to getting some level of comfort,” he said when asked how they responded to the development. “I believe they’re appreciative, but also have many more questions and this is just part of the journey as it navigates through the courts.”
Perrin didn’t reveal details of what led to the arrest at a home on Stanley Street at about 8:40 a.m., but said police worked with the Saint John Police Force in locating and apprehending him.
They are asking anyone with information about the case to contact them.
He said the Halifax force has 76 unsolved homicides, which includes what it deems suspicious missing persons cases.
