Out on bail
Elmer Percy Higgins has been granted bail in his second-degree murder case.
A Halifax senior charged in a double homicide at a camp on the Eastern Shore five years ago has been granted bail with the Crown’s consent.
Elmer Percy Higgins, 65, appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Thursday with lawyer Karen Endres.
Higgins, who is ill, was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair.
Justice Glen McDougall ordered Higgins released on a $35,000 recognizance with one surety and placed him on house arrest at his home on Herring Cove Road.
Firefighters responded to a report of a blaze at a camp along Highway 374 in Sheet Harbour on Dec. 12, 2012.
The bodies of Matthew Hebb, 22, and Earle Stewart, 59, were found in the cabin. Both men had been shot.
Higgins and his wife, Karen Marie Higgins, 50, were arrested and charged in August. They each face two counts of second-degree murder and several firearms charges.
The Crown consented to bail for Karen Higgins in September.
On Thursday, the judge ordered Elmer Higgins to remain on his property except for four hours every Friday for personal needs, and when dealing with medical emergencies and appointments, and legal commitments.
He cannot possess firearms, have contact with 39 people listed as potential Crown witnesses, or be within 50 metres of the Sobeys grocery store on Herring Cove Road unless he’s attending a medical clinic in the same building.
Higgins must check in with Halifax Regional Police by phone every Friday, has to deposit his passport with police and is forbidden from going to Sheet Harbour unless he notifies police in advance.
The couple are scheduled to have a preliminary inquiry in Dartmouth provincial court in January.