Man charged with second-degree murder in Quebec femicide

A Surete du Quebec badge is seen in Montreal on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

A 24-year-old Quebec man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his spouse whose body was found in a burned vehicle last month in Beauce, provincial police say.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) said they arrested Keven Deblois Thursday morning in connection with the killing of Karine Bélanger, 36, of Quebec City. He was already in jail on unrelated charges at the time of his arrest, according to SQ spokesperson Nicolas Scholtus.

Deblois is also charged with indignity to a human body, theft of a vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, and theft.

Deblois and Bélanger were a couple, according to Scholtus. The victim's body was found on Sept. 25 in a torched vehicle on Saint-Pierre Road in Saint-Bernard, Que., about 50 kilometres south of Quebec City in the Chaudière-Appalaches region.

The accused was scheduled to appear in court Thursday or Friday at the Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce courthouse.