Dressed in a blue prisoner's jumpsuit and staring blankly ahead, Jesse Imeson was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge Thursday.
He is accused of killing Carlos Rivera, 26, a bartender found strangled to death on July 19 in Imeson's Windsor, Ont. apartment.
Charges are still pending in the deaths of William Regier 72, and his wife Helene, 73. Both were found lifeless in their Mount Carmel, Ont. farmhouse on July 23.
"The sad part about the whole thing is the family itself ... William and Helene Regier were the type of people who would have given the shirt off their back and given anything they wanted," said Insp. Dave Cardwell of the Ontario Provincial Police.
"The senselessness of why this occurred is so confusing to us. Just absolutely senseless."
The three deaths sparked a two-week manhunt for 22-year-old Imeson, ending late Tuesday in Portage-Du-Fort, Que., near the Ontario border.
Police revealed Thursday that Imeson is suspected of breaking into 10 homes or cottages in the area where he was eventually found, when a resident reported suspicious activity at a nearby cottage.
Imeson fled from the cottage into a forested area when police approached, but surrendered soon after, laying down a loaded weapon at his side.
"I'm very thankful no one was injured in the apprehension, there was obviously that potential with the loaded weapon as he was being tracked," said OPP Det.-Insp. Dave Cardwell.
Imeson was arraigned in a Windsor, Ont. courtroom Thursday, after being flown to the city from Quebec.
Cardwell said he plans to meet with the Huron County Crown prosecutor on Friday to discuss Imeson's arraignment on the double-murder, but no decision has been made yet.
Charges could also follow in relation to the break-ins.
Bob Simpson, who owns the cottage where Imeson was spotted, says he's happy that nobody was hurt.
"We're just thankful that we didn't come up when he was in there because we would have confronted him right in the cottage," Simpson told CTV Newsnet on Wednesday.
Simpson, who left his cottage on Monday, said there was little damage done to his property.
"I locked it real tight when I left on Monday," said Simpson. "He climbed up on the roof and got into a window, a cathedral ceiling... and had to drop about 15 feet to get in so he made a real effort to get in the place."
Quebec and Ontario police officers found Imeson in a nearby wooded area just before 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Before he was finally caught, the hunt for Imeson had extended into the United States, with his face appearing on the top of the America's Most Wanted website. A Canada-wide warrant was also issued for Imeson.
