The commander of a major military base in Canada who once flew dignitaries around the country has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of two women and in the sexual assaults of two other women. Ontario Provincial Police Department Insp. Chris Nicholas said Monday that Colonel Russell Williams, 46, was arrested Sunday in Ottawa.
Williams was appointed as the base commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario last July. Trenton is Canada's largest air force base and is providing logistical support for Canada's missions in Haiti and Afghanistan.
Williams is charged with the first-degree murder of Jessica Lloyd, 27, of a Belleville, Ontario, resident whose body was found earlier Monday, and Marie Comeau, a 38-year-old corporal found dead in her Brighton, Ontario, home in November. Williams is also charged with forcible confinement, breaking and entering and sexual assault after two women were sexually assaulted during two separate home invasions in the Tweed, Ontario area in September of 2009.