Catherine Campbell probe leads to 2nd-degree murder charge in officer's death

A 27-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder, a day after the body of a Truro, N.S., police officer was found under a bridge in Halifax.

Christopher Calvin Garnier was also charged by Halifax Regional Police with interfering with a body in the case of Catherine Campbell, a Truro Police Service constable.

Her body was found shortly after midnight on Wednesday.

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"We've laid that charge due to the cavalier way Miss Campbell's body was disposed of," said Supt. Jim Perrin, speaking for Halifax Regional Police.

Garnier appeared briefly in Halifax provincial court on Thursday morning and will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Sept. 30.

Police said they do not believe Campbell's death had anything to do with her work.

Perrin said police are looking for witnesses who may have seen a white man, wearing shorts and a T-shirt pushing or pulling a green compost bin from the McCully Street area, up Agricola, North or Barrington streets at around 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 11.

Perrin said they believe the accused was the man pushing the green bin. He said police are not looking for any other suspects at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 902-490-5016. Anonymous tips can go to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Difficult time for family

He also said Garnier lived on Chadwick Street in the Clayton Park area of Halifax one of three scenes being searched by police Wednesday. Investigators scoured the McCully Street address where they believe Campbell was killed Wednesday, as well as the area under the Macdonald Bridge where Campbell's body was found.

"We're hopeful that the charges laid today provide some level of comfort during this extremely difficult time," said Theresa Rath, speaking for the Halifax Regional Police.

After the 36-year-old's body was found, police said the suspect in custody, now identified as Garnier, had a "limited" criminal record. Perrin said Garnier had a few traffic violations on record.

• Police believe Campbell may have known arrested suspect

On Thursday, Halifax Regional Police flew the flag of Truro outside its headquarters in Halifax, out of respect for Campbell's colleagues.

Police have a book of condolences for employees and members of the public to sign at the police building located at 1975 Gottingen St.

The book will be available to sign until Monday. Then, it will be given to Chief David MacNeil of the Truro Police Service.

"Our thoughts continue to be with Catherine's family, friends and colleagues. Whenever a death happens in our policing community, we can't help but be affected. The extended police family and the communities we serve are mourning this tragic loss," said Perrin.

Campbell also a volunteer firefighter

At a news conference Wednesday, police said they suspected Campbell was dead Tuesday afternoon, and that's when the missing persons case turned into a homicide investigation.

An arrest was made at 1:20 a.m. AT Wednesday in Clayton Park.

Police said Campbell was last seen in a downtown bar early Friday morning. She was a Truro constable for six years and a volunteer firefighter in Stellarton, N.S., for 10 years.

On Monday morning, Campbell was scheduled to report for work but didn't show up. Her sister said that raised concern because it wasn't in her nature.