Samantha Higgins homicide: Judges uphold first-degree murder charge

Nicholas Fontanelli, accused of first-degree murder in the July 2015 death of Samantha Higgins, has failed in his effort to be tried on a reduced charge when his case goes before a jury.
Three Quebec Court of Appeal judges were unanimous in a decision released Friday: the basis for the appeal was “ill-founded.”
Defence lawyer Marc Labelle had argued the Crown failed to produce evidence during Fontanelli’s preliminary inquiry to merit having him tried for first-degree murde