A Newfoundland man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a woman more than a year ago in Bible Hill, N.S.

RCMP were called in response to a sudden death at a home on Wild Chance Drive in Bible Hill on Sept. 17 of 2023.

The 32-year-old woman’s death was deemed to be suspicious, and a man known to her was arrested that day but released without being charged.

But on Monday of this week RCMP arrested the same man, 31-year-old Richard Craig Barrett, originally from Mount Pearl, and charged him with first-degree murder, describing it as a case of intimate partner violence.

Cpl. Sandy Matharu says the investigation was a complex one, with officers collecting “a significant amount of forensic evidence” and conducting interviews with witnesses who shared “valuable information.”

Barrett appeared in Truro Provincial Court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody pending future court dates.