Man charged with 1st-degree murder in death of missing N.S. woman

A man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Nova Scotia woman who was reported missing nearly two weeks ago.

RCMP held a news conference Friday in Dartmouth where they announced an arrest in the death of 55-year-old Esther Jones.

Police said Dale Allen Toole, 54, was tracked to Texas and deported to Canada. He was arrested Wednesday when he landed in Toronto.

RCMP said Toole's deportation was not related to Jones's death. They said he was about to board a flight to Merida, Mexico, when he was apprehended at the Houston airport.

"We don't have information on the actual relationship between the two, we do know they're from the same community, there's a familial connection on a larger basis," RCMP Cpl. Jeff MacFarlane said at Friday's news conference.

"I can say … at this point we don't have a very specific connection of relationship or friendship. We're still investigating that point. All we can say is that they did not reside together."

MacFarlane said evidence showed that Jones and Toole fought at the Kingston Bible College, which is where RCMP believe she was killed.

Toole is being returned to the province and is expected in a Kentville, N.S., courtroom Monday.

Jones was last seen Aug. 31 in Kingston, N.S., and her car was discovered days later abandoned in nearby Greenwood.

Her family reported her missing on Labour Day after she failed to show up for church the day before, which was unlike her.

Police said Friday that Jones's body has not been found.