VAL-DES-MONTS, Que. - A retired RCMP officer has been charged with murder in the deaths of two tenants at his home in the western Quebec community of Val-des-Monts.
Yvon Mercier, 69, faces two counts of second-degree murder and one of arson.
Mercier appeared late Monday at the courthouse in Gatineau, Que., and is being detained until his next court appearance on Feb. 17.
On Sunday, police found two bodies inside a residence following a fire on Mercier Street in Val-des-Monts, about 35 kilometres north of Ottawa.
The victims were identified as Pierre Dupuis, 50 and Celine Labelle, 54, and police confirmed the victims and the suspect knew each other.
Sgt. Marc Tessier of Quebec provincial police says the investigation is ongoing and police are awaiting autopsy results and other expertise.
Mercier, who owns the home where the bodies were found and had recently put it up for sale on an online classifieds site, retired from the RCMP in 2007.