Man charged with intimidating witnesses of home invasion turns himself in

Tue. Mar 4 - 5:35 AM Last December, Halifax Regional Police charged Cory Patrick Melvin with threatening the lives of two witnesses in a Spryfield home invasion.

The only problem was officers could not find Mr. Melvin.

That all changed at 1 p.m. Monday when Mr. Melvin turned himself in at Halifax provincial court. And with the Crown's consent, he was released on bail.

The Crown alleges Mr. Melvin threatened to kill or cause bodily harm to Evin Charles, Owen MacLean and Sarah Deanna MacLean. Mr. Melvin is also charged with assaulting Mr. MacLean and provoking a state of fear in the couple about testifying at trial. The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 10 and April 10.

Mr. Melvin's older brother, Jimmy Melvin Jr., and Anastasios Papadopoulos are awaiting trial next February on charges of robbing Ryan Anthony Boudreau and Ms. MacLean during the same home invasion at an apartment on McIntosh Street on the evening of March 10.

Jimmy Melvin, 25, and Mr. Papadopoulos, 34, are also accused of separate counts of confining Mr. Boudreau and Ms. MacLean, break and enter, assault causing bodily harm to Mr. Boudreau and four weapons offences.

The victims were not seriously injured.

Jimmy Melvin is also accused of being involved in several firebombings in 2006. He and Andrew Jason Hudder face 14 charges stemming from five fires and a break-in and theft.

The fires, some ignited with Molotov cocktails, occurred from September to November at homes and businesses in Fairview, Dartmouth and Bayers Lake Business Park.

Cory Melvin is a co-accused in the alleged arsons. His preliminary inquiry on those charges is set for June. He is expected to return to court March 20 to enter a plea on his other matters.

( sborden@herald.ca )