Charges were laid Monday in the 2014 death of a Blueberry River First Nation woman.
Leon Wokeley, 42, was charged with second degree murder, arson and indignity to ruman remains in the 2014 death of Pamela Napoleon.
Wokeley was arrested in Fort St. John Friday, Oct. 27, and will make his first court appearance Wednesday.
Wokeley and Napoleon knew each other from living in Blueberry River First Nation, roughly an hour north of Fort St. John, and were last seen leaving the community together July 8, 2014.
Napoleon was reported missing July 23 and her remains were later found in a burned-down cabin north of Buick Creek near Blueberry River on Aug. 4. Investigators were unable to determine the cause of Napoleon's death due to the fire, and medical and dental records were used to confirm her identity. Napoleon was 42.
On Monday, police offered sparse new details on their investigation, including Napoleon's cause of death and how long Wokeley had been a suspect, citing the court process.
Insp. Stephen Cocks, whose special projects unit was brought on in 2015 to investigate alongside Fort St. John RCMP, confirmed Napoleon had been killed prior to her body being burned.
"We're not in a position to discuss the (details) of the case at this point in time," he said. "Those things will be formally discussed in court at a later date."
He called the crime isolated, and stressed Napoleon and Wokeley were not in a domestic relationship. Wokeley is not being investigated for other missing persons or homicide cases, Cocks said.
The charges against him were largely secured by the work of Fort St. John RCMP over the last three years, Cocks said.
"They remained engaged with their community. They listened. Our efforts focused on taking the information gathered and confirming the evidence," he said.
Napoleon's sisters Vanessa and Amanda Apsassin joined RCMP for their announcement Monday, as did two dozen of Napoleon's family and friends.
Vanessa Apsassin remembered Napoleon as a loving daughter, sister, and mother who cared deeply about family and community.
Napoleon loved her culture and the outdoors, Apsassin said, and loved to prepare and cook meals for special occasions, Apsassin said.
"She loved her boys with all her heart, as well as her family and friends," Apsassin said. "Pam was a great person who was taken from us too early."
News of Wokeley's arrest, while a relief, was a sad reminder of the family's tragic loss, Apsassin said.
"Understandably, this is a shock to us," she said. "It brought back many dark memories from the time she went missing until now."
"We want to thank the police for taking their case seriously, establishing what happened to Pam, so we can begin to heal."
Court records show Wokely has had a few brief run-ins with the law, most recently in February 2016 when he was fined $200 for uttering threats in Wonowon.
In October 2006, he was handed 23 days in jail and a year of probation for also uttering threats, that time in the Blueberry community.
In May 2006, he was handed a five-year firearms ban. He was given a one-year suspended sentence and probation order for mischief under $5,000 in November 2003.
