Canada court remands Jamaican pastor accused of killing his wife

Jamaican pastor Alton Farquharson, who is charged with murder in the death of his wife, was remanded when he appeared in a court in Canada on Tuesday.

The 56-year-old, who is reportedly from Mile Gully in Manchester, has been in police custody since last Friday following the killing of his wife, identified in court documents as Tasha Farquharson.

Farquharson appeared briefly via video link in a court in London, Ontario.

It was not immediately clear whether he has retained legal representation or when he will next return to court.

The Gleaner was referred to the London Police Service news outlet for further details, but up to news time, no update had been issued.

Under Canadian criminal law, in serious cases such as second-degree murder, initial court appearances following a remand are typically procedural and used to confirm legal representation or schedule the next date for reviewing evidence.

London Police reported that officers responded to a call at a residential building at 297 Westminster Avenue at approximately 5:15 a.m. last Friday, where they found a 47-year-old woman suffering from what they described as a “traumatic injury.”

The woman was transported to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police did not publicly identify the victim at the time but confirmed that the killing had been categorised as a femicide. Multiple media outlets in Ontario later reported that the victim was Farquharson’s wife.

Farquharson was arrested at the scene and subsequently charged with second-degree murder. Court documents later identified the deceased as Tasha Farquharson.

In their statement issued on Friday, police explicitly described the case as a femicide, a classification they said had not been used in previous releases.

Court officials indicated that Farquharson has no prior matters on file at the London courthouse.

- Karen Madden

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