Man accused of murdering off-duty Nova Scotia officer released on bail

HALIFAX – A man accused of killing an off-duty Nova Scotia police officer more than a year ago has been released on bail, about 11 months before his case goes to trial.

The province’s Public Prosecution Service confirmed Christopher Calvin Garnier was granted bail Tuesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Garnier is facing a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Truro police officer Catherine Campbell.

The 28-year-old Halifax resident was also charged with interfering with a dead body after Campbell’s remains were found in September 2015 near the base of an overpass in Halifax.

Campbell had served as a Truro police constable for six years before she died.

Garnier’s trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 20, 2017.

A publication ban remains in effect regarding all evidence discussed at the bail hearing, as well as a preliminary hearing that took place earlier this year.

Campbell also served as a volunteer firefighter for 10 years in her hometown of Stellarton.

Her family has said she held a variety of jobs in the community before deciding to train as a police officer, finding a job in Truro as soon as she graduated.

During her funeral in Stellarton, more than a hundred police officers and firefighters lined the main street of her hometown as her coffin was carried to the Presbyterian church.