Nova Scotia brothers charged with first and second-degree murders
Posted Jul 17, 2014 06:52:02 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
On Nov. 8, 2011, Melissa Dawn Peacock thought she was getting a ride home after a party in Upper Rawdon, N.S., when she got into Dustan Preeper’s car with him and his brother.
Tragically, the 20-year-old woman from Dartmouth never made it home.
Yesterday in court, 26-year-old Dustan Joseph Preeper pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Peacock, who was stabbed, dragged into the woods, and set on fire that night, three years ago.
Preeper’s younger brother, 22-year-old Joshua Michael Preeper, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the grisly killing.
Peacock’s grandfather, Rufus, told Global Halifax, there were too many fingers pointing at the brothers for them to not be the murderers of his granddaughter.
“There’s a lot of evidence, so they had no alternative really.”
He said it’s been a difficult few years for their family.
“It’s been hard on all of us, sure. It’s been a lot of pressure on us, but we trust that justice will be served.”
Supreme Court also heard Dustan plead guilty for the July 2010 murder of Ben Hare.
Hare was beaten to death with a baseball bat after a fight broke out between the two outside an apartment in Truro four years ago.
The brothers’ aunt, Tiny White, said Dustan didn’t start the fight with Hare.
“He was bleeding from his face, his neck, his back, everything,” she said. “Dusty didn’t go looking for the trouble.”
