N.B. man pleads guilty to second degree murder in 2020 homicide

N.B. man pleads guilty to second degree murder A 35-year-old man from Saint-Édouard-de-Kent, N.B., has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

HALIFAX — A 35-year-old man from Saint-Édouard-de-Kent, N.B., has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the February 2020 homicide of 67-year-old Elias Bastarache.

Richibucto RCMP say they were called to a home on Route 515 in Sainte-Marie-de-Kent at about 4 p.m. on Feb. 21, 2020 for a report of a sudden death.

"Upon arrival, police discovered the body of a man," the RCMP said in a news release. "It was determined that the man died as the result of a homicide."

During the investigation by the RCMP's Major Crime Unit, a search was conducted at a home in Saint-Edouard-de-Kent on Feb. 27, 2020, and Marcel Savoie was arrested later that day in Dixon Point, N.B.

On Nov. 8, 2021, Savoie, now 35, appeared in the Moncton Court of Queen's Bench and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. A previous charge for first-degree murder was revoked.

Savoie remains in custody and is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 14, 2022 for sentencing.