SALABERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD, Que. - Four years after his wife's mysterious disappearance, a Quebecer who was once mayor of a small town has been charged with murdering her.
An emotionless Paul Laplante appeared before a judge near Montreal and was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Diane Gregoire.
Today's court appearance on Wednesday comes 47 months after Laplante reported Gregoire missing.
Laplante, 54, has been ordered to remain in custody and is forbidden from talking to three people --including the couple's two children.
He did not enter a plea during the appearance but his lawyer indicated following his arrest on Tuesday that Laplante intends to fight the charge.
Family and curious onlookers gathered for the arraignment of Laplante, who was mayor of St-Liboire between 1995 and 1998.
It was Laplante who initially reported Gregoire missing in January 2008 from the parking lot of a suburban shopping mall.
Gregoire's skeletal remains were finally found last month, in a densely wooded area off a highway in Coteau-du-Lac, not far from the Ontario border.
Laplante was arrested by Quebec provincial police.
Police say Laplante was the last person who reported seeing her in the parking lot in St-Bruno, south of Montreal. Laplante told police in 2008 he left Gregoire in the car and went inside to have breakfast.
He said she never joined him in the shopping centre as agreed. The 51-year-old woman was never seen again.
In the months that followed, volunteers searched different areas for signs of the missing woman. Posters of the woman were circulated widely across the province.
