Man charged with murdering intimate partner following Kings County fire

A 28-year-old man has been charged with murdering his intimate partner after a woman was found dead Saturday in a home in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley that was lit on fire early that morning, according to police.

Justin Joseph Benjamin is accused of second-degree murder and arson with disregard to human life after the body of the 22-year-old woman was discovered in the home in Centreville. He is expected to appear in court Monday.

RCMP said in a news release that firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene around 3 a.m. Saturday and found the home engulfed in flames. Six people escaped the fire and were not injured.

Police said the suspect was arrested around noon on Highway 8 near Lequille, N.S. He was held in custody and charged the next day.

The news release said the victim was killed as the result of intimate partner violence.

Her death is the latest in a number of homicides in recent months in Nova Scotia that police have described as involving intimate partner violence. That number includes five women who were killed in murder-suicides in four months.

The most recent was a week ago in Mahone Bay, N.S., where police said a 75-year-old man fatally shot a 60-year-old woman before taking his own life.