N.S. man to plead guilty to murder

A Nova Scotia man accused of killing his wife, Paula Gallant, will plead guilty to second-degree murder on Wednesday, CBC News has learned.

Michael Taylor, the lawyer for Jason Wayne MacRae, said his client intends to plead guilty in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax.

Taylortold CBC News thatno agreement has been made on sentencing. A murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence, but lawyers will argue how much time MacRae must serve before he can apply for parole.

MacRae, 37, was charged in August with first-degree murder in the death of his wife.

Gallant, 36, was found dead in the trunk of her car on Dec. 28, 2005. The car was in the parking lot of Beechville-Lakeside-Timberlea Elementary School, where Gallant was a Grade 3 teacher.

In August, when police announced MacRae's first-degree murder charge, they said they had received new information about the case in the spring of 2009. They would not say what the new evidence was that led them to arrest and charge MacRae.

He is expected to appear in court Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. for a presentation of the agreed statement of facts and the reading of victim impact statements.