Tipster paid $100K reward in double murder case, despite no conviction
Nova Scotia's Justice Department has paid a tipster $100,000 for information that led to the arrest of Elmer Higgins on a double-murder charge, even though Higgins died before his trial started.
Higgins was charged with the 2012 murders of Earle Stewart and Matthew Hebb in Sheet Harbour, N.S., and died from a chronic health condition while awaiting trial earlier this year.
Usually, the reward is only paid when information leads to an arrest and conviction. Tipsters must provide their name and contact information and may be called to testify in court.
Conviction 'was certainly expected'
Roger Merrick, a director with the Justice Department's public safety and security division, said the program does not normally pay out a reward if there is no conviction.
"This is an unusual situation where the accused died while in custody awaiting trial," Merrick said.
"We based our award on the recommendation by police and the Public Prosecution Service that a conviction was certainly expected in this particular case as a result of the information that was provided.
"We felt that it was not the fault of the individual who provided the information. We felt that that person acted in good faith by providing that information and should be eligible for that award, even though a conviction was not entered."
Third time reward given
Stewart and Hebb were found dead in a burned-out structure on Dec. 12, 2012. Both had been shot. The case was added to the program in January 2016.
The Justice Department said the tipster provided investigators with information in March 2017.
This is only the third time a reward has been paid out under Nova Scotia's Reward for Major Unsolved Crime Program, which started in 2006.
In 2014, the program paid the maximum reward of $150,000 to a person who came forward with information in the 2011 Melissa Peacock homicide. Dustan Joseph Preeper and his brother Joshua Michael Preeper are serving life sentences in that case.
A second reward in the same amount was given out in March 2016 in connection to the 2010 murder of Ryan White. That same year, Kale Gabriel was sentenced to life in prison for the second-degree murder of White.
The amount paid out depends on the importance of the information received.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Lisa Stuart said the information received regarding the homicides of Stewart and Hebb "was crucial to solving this investigation."
