Security tight as Melvin appears in court

A man wanted for questioning in the shooting death of a convicted drug dealer appeared in court Tuesday amid extra security.

James Bernard Melvin, 24, was sentenced to three months in jail after pleadingguilty to two counts of violating a court-imposed curfew.

Melvin, who was released in May after serving a five-year sentence for assault, conspiracy and drug trafficking, was arrested Saturday night at a hotel in Bedford after a six-hour standoff.

Policehad been looking for Melvin since a former associate of his was gunned down on June 20.

Wayne Nicholas Marriott, 21, a convicted cocaine dealer, was shot and killed as he sat in a parked car near his home in Beechville. A second man in the car, Jeremy Alvin Leblanc, survived.

Police later issued an arrest warrant for Melvin, calling him a person of interest in the case.

Defence lawyer Josh Arnold says his client is stressed about the entire situation.

"I guess if the police are going to lay charges, then they should. And if they aren't, then they should lay off," Arnold told reporters Tuesday.

Security wasincreased at the courthouse in anticipation of Melvin's appearance. Anyone entering thebuilding had to pass through a metal detector and a check from guards carrying security wands.

Marriott's shooting, a firebombing and another shooting incident have fuelled concerns that a drug war is underway in Spryfield, a Halifax suburb.

Six days after Marriott was killed, someone tossed a homemade bomb into a store owned by Melvin's family, Sprytown Fast Cash on Herring Cove Road.

The next day, shots were fired repeatedly at a house on Guildwood Crescent in Spryfield. It was once the home of Marriott's cousin, a convicted drug dealer named B. J. Bremmer who also goes by B. J. Marriott.

Police have only said the incidents are not random acts and they are looking to see whether the shootings and firebombing are related.