Glace Bay man charged as accessory in woman's death

A 33-year-old Glace Bay man has been charged in connection with the death of a young woman, also from Glace Bay, whose remains were found more than four years ago.

John Wayne Hynes has been charged with accessory after the fact in the death of Brett Elizabeth MacKinnon, who was last seen in June 2006.

Cape Breton Regional Police have classified MacKinnon's death has a homicide. No one has been charged with her death.

MacKinnon, 21, was reported missing by her mother in July 2006. Her skeletal remains were found more than two years after that, in November 2008, by hunters in a wooded area just outside of Glace Bay.

In 2010, Nova Scotia's Department of Justice added MacKinnon to its Major Unsolved Crimes program and offered a $150,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for her death.

Hynes was arrested Monday in Halifax, where he is currently living, and transported to Cape Breton on Tuesday, said Cape Breton Regional Police.

Hyneswas arraigned in Sydney provincial court on Tuesday and will be back for a bail hearing on Jan 30.He has not yet entered a plea.

Court documents name suspect in death

This case is the second time this month that police have charged someone with being an accessory to a killing before anyone has been charged with murder.

In court documents obtained by CBC News, Cape Breton Regional Police officers identify Glace Bay resident Thomas Barrett as a suspect in MacKinnon's killing.

Although no one has been charged with killing MacKinnon and there is nothing proven to implicate Barrett, Cape Breton Regional Police allege Hynes knew Barrett had killed MacKinnon and helped him escape.

The court documents state: "Knowing that Thomas Ted Barrett had murdered Brett Elizabeth MacKinnon did assist Thomas Ted Barrett in disposing of the body of Brett Elizabeth MacKinnon for the purpose of enabling Thomas Ted Barrett to escape detection, contrary to Section 240 of the Criminal Code of Canada."

Barrett's name also appears in court documents relating to the death of Laura Jessome of Glace Bay, whose remains was found floating along the Mira River near Marion Bridge in May 2012.

Barrett is not charged in either case.

Morgan James McNeil has been charged with second-degree murder in Jessome's death, while Brian Augustine Deruelle and Robert Edwin Matheson are each charged with accessory after the fact.