Ugo Fredette charged with 1st, 2nd-degree murder in deaths of Vronique Barbe, Yvon Lacasse

A Quebec man who triggered an Amber Alert after a six-year-old boy went missing last month has now been charged with one count each of first-degree murder and second-degree murder.

Ugo Fredette, 42,was arrested in Ontario on Sept. 15 after a search that lasted nearly 24 hours. The boy was found safe with him and was transferred into the care of Quebec's youth protection services.

• Ugo Fredette makes brief initial court appearance in Saint-Jrme

Fredette was charged Monday with second-degree murder forthe killing of 71-year-old Yvon Lacasse.

Lacasse's body was found near Arundel, Que., five days after Fredette's arrest.Fredette was found driving Lacasse's car when he was stopped by Ontario Provincial Police.

Outside the courtroom, the dead man'sbrother, Florian Lacasse, said seeing Fredettein court left him feeling only "pity."

"He can't be at peace with himself," Lacassesaid.

The Crown also changed an earlier charge of second-degree murder for the killing of Fredette's partner, VroniqueBarbe, to first-degree murder.

Barbe's body was found at her home inSaint-Eustache, north of Montreal, on Sept. 14.

The mother of four was 41.

Prosecutor Simon Baribeau told reportersnew information led the Crown to increase the charge to first-degree murder in the killing of Barbe.

"The Crown's theory is now that [Fredette] was moved to action in the context of criminal harassment," he said.

Asked why it took more than a month to charge Fredette with the killing of Lacasse, Baribeau said the police investigation produced alarge amount of evidence thathad to be first studied.

• 'Not the ending we wanted': Sadness, relief after body of missing man in Quebec Amber Alert case found