The com­mon-law hus­band of ju­di­cial of­fi­cer Sta­cy Gopauls­ingh ap­peared in court on Mon­day charged with her mur­der.

Shane Gomez ap­peared vir­tu­al­ly be­fore Mas­ter Deli­cia Bethelmy hours af­ter he was charged on the ad­vice of Deputy Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions Sab­ri­na Jaglal. The 43-year-old man was ar­rest­ed last Thurs­day. Gopauls­ingh, 36, was the moth­er of a three-year-old daugh­ter and was preg­nant.

Po­lice were ini­tial­ly told that she was chopped to death dur­ing a rob­bery at their Poui Trace, St Mary’s Vil­lage, Moru­ga home on De­cem­ber 23. Ini­tial re­ports stat­ed that Gomez es­caped af­ter jump­ing through a win­dow with their daugh­ter. Cpl Jag­ger­nauth ap­peared for the pros­e­cu­tion and at­tor­ney An­cil Grif­fith rep­re­sent­ed Gomez.

The ac­cused was re­mand­ed in­to cus­tody un­til April 14. —Sascha Wil­son