This is a day of many gifts
Police make arrest in Ardeth Wood murder
CTV.ca News Staff
Ottawa Police announced Thursday that charges have been laid in the Ardeth Wood murder investigation.
The 27-year-old Ottawa woman disappeared on August 6, 2003, while riding her bike near the Aviation Parkway.
Her naked body was discovered five days later near Green's Creek in the city's east end.
"The major crime investigators have charged Chris Myers, 25 years of age from Ottawa," said Ottawa police chief Vince Bevan at a press conference.
"He is charged with the murder of Ardeth Wood and four other counts of sexual assaults, which occurred between July 2003 and December 2004."
Bevan added that Myers has been in custody in North Bay since May 14th, 2005 on a charge of sexual assault.
"He arose as a person of interest early in the investigation, along with hundreds of others. And as we worked and progressed through all the persons of interest, he maintained that status. We never cleared him or put him aside," Bevan said.
"By May of this year, he rose to the top of our interest list because of the information that we were gathering at the time.
"Having all that information to work with and looking back on what we had so far, we were able to develop those charges that he's now facing, the sexual assault charges," he said.
Wood, a University of Waterloo doctoral student, was visiting her family in Ottawa at the time of her disappearance.
The search for a suspect has been one of the most intensive ever carried out by Ottawa police. About a dozen full-time investigators have remained on the case, which has cost upwards of $750,000.
Police have also received several thousand tips over the past two years.
"It is hoped that the hard work of all those involved in finding Ardeth's body and investigating her body will reduce the chances of another similar death taking place," Ardeth's father Brenden Wood said at the news conference.
"It is good to know that though the wheels of justice grind slowly, they do in fact grind."
Myers is expected to appear in court Friday.
As Myers was in custody since May, he has been ruled out as a suspect in the death of Ottawa teen Jennifer Teague, whose body was found late September. Teague's killer has not been found.
posted by John Allore @ 10/20/2005 03:53:00 PM
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