The lawyer for an Ottawa man accused of killing his wife says his client is devastated about the charges laid against him and the circumstances that have followed his wife's death.
The charge against 38-year-old Demetrios Angelis was upgraded from manslaughter to second-degree murder on Wednesday, based on new information police say they've gathered in their ongoing investigation into the murder of 42-year-old Lien Angelis.
"Manslaughter would be that there wasn't an intent to initially cause death and second-degree murder is that a person would be aware that whatever actions were taken could cause death," Const. J.P. Vincelette told CTV Ottawa.
Police found Lien Angelis' body in a high-rise apartment building on McEwen Avenue in the city's west end Sunday afternoon, marking the Capital's fifth homicide of the year and the third woman to be murdered in Ottawa in a period of eight days.
Demetrios Angelis appeared in court Wednesday clearly showing facial injuries that his lawyer Jean-Marc Ch�nier says occurred during Sunday's "incident."
Ch�nier told reporters the couple was going through a divorce prior to the weekend tragedy and his client is particularly upset he hasn't seen his children for days.
"He's devastated obviously. He's very worried about his children - he hasn't seen his children since the weekend. He doesn't know what's happening to him," Ch�nier said.
Police confirmed Wednesday that the couple's two children were in the apartment when officers found Lien Angelis' body.
Ch�nier says he's waiting for full disclosure on the second-degree murder charge against his client before Angelis' next court appearance on June 18. At that time, Ch�nier said he will also try to get bail for his client.
