Family and friends of a Calgary woman whose body was left in a Red Deer trash bin got their first glimpse on Wednesday of the man accused of killing her.
The body of Talia Nelli Meguinis, 27, was found on Feb. 22 as a recycling truck was emptying its load at a depot in Riverside Industrial Park.
Red Deer resident Nathan Michael Desharnais, 24, was arrested in Calgary on Friday and returned to Red Deer, charged with second-degree murder and interfering with human remains.
Pale and lean with a mop of dark hair covering his eyes, Desharnais made his first court appearance via closed-circuit TV from the Red Deer Remand Centre before Judge David Plosz in Red Deer provincial court.
Seated in the gallery were more than a dozen of Meguinis’s closest friends and family, who travelled from Calgary to attend court.
Duty Counsel Mark Gottlieb asked that proceedings against Desharnais be held over for one week to give him time to apply for legal aid.
Desharnais will remain in custody pending his next court appearance, set for Wednesday.
Outside the court, family and friends of the victim said they did not wish to make any comment.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com