Nova Scotia

Man charged with 1st-degree murder in fatal Pinkneys Point house fire

A man has been charged with first-degree murder after a fatal house fire in Pinkneys Point, N.S., in March.

Human remains discovered after blaze in Pinkneys Point in March

A Yarmouth County man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a man in a house fire last month.

Early on March 17, crews were called to a fire on Melbourne Road in Pinkneys Point, N.S. After the fire was extinguished, investigators found human remains inside.

The remains were later identified to be those of Joseph Wickens, 43, of Stoney Island.

Several RCMP departments, including the major crime unit and the forensic identification unit, as well as the Yarmouth Fire Department, the anthropology department at St. Thomas University, the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner's Office and the Nova Scotia Fire Marshal's Office, have been investigating the incident.

On Thursday, RCMP arrested Dillon Burton Deveau, 30, of North Chegoggin and charged him with first-degree murder. He's scheduled to appear in Yarmouth provincial court on Friday.