Woman charged in Sheet Harbour double homicide gets bail

A Halifax woman has been granted bail on charges from a double homicide at a camp in Sheet Harbour in December 2012.

Karen Marie Higgins, 49, and her husband Elmer Percy Higgins, 65, were arrested and charged last month. ey each face two counts of second-degree murder and several rearms charges in relation to the deaths of Matthew Hebb, 22, and Earle Stewart, 59.

Fire ghters responded to a report of a blaze at a camp along Highway 374 in Sheet Harbour on Dec. 12, 2012.

Hebb and Stewart’s bodies were found in the camp. Both men had been shot, sources say.

e Crown consented to Karen Higgins’s release Thursday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax. Justice Denise Boudreau ordered Higgins released from custody on a $35,000 recognizance with one surety.

e judge placed Karen Higgins on house arrest at her home on Herring Cove Road until she is able to return to work at an insurance company, at which time she will be subject to a 7 p.m. curfew during the week and a 5 p.m. curfew on weekends.

Higgins is also allowed out of the house for four hours every Friday for personal needs and when dealing with family medical emergencies and appointments and legal commitments. She is prohibited from possessing rearms, having contact with 39 people listed as potential Crown witnesses and being within 50 metres of the Sobeys grocery store on Herring Cove Road.