Merritt man makes court appearance in connection with murder of Pamela Jarvis

A 49-year-old Merritt man is back in Merritt court on Tuesday, facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with the death of his wife in December.

On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Pamela Jarvis, a 45-year-old mother of six, was found with “serious injuries” at the house in Merritt, and police say she succumbed to her injuries at the Nicola Valley Hospital later that afternoon.

Shortly after arriving at the scene, the RCMP located her spouse, 49-year-old Christopher Bernard Jarvis, and charged him with second-degree murder in connection with the assault, and he remains in custody.

The murder of Pamela Jarvis has drawn attention from the Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS), an advocacy group for victims of domestic violence in the province, which requested the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of BC to launch an investigation into Jarvis’s death.

The Independent Investigations Office is a civilian-led police oversight agency responsible for conducting investigations into incidents of death or serious harm that may have been the result of the actions or inactions of a police officer, whether on or off duty.

According to the RCMP, they have provided the IIO office with “information that their last contact with Jarvis occurred just several days before her death, with local police’s investigation having already occurred “over a period of time.”

Meanwhile, a public memorial service for Pamela Jarvis will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, January 9, at the Merritt Civic Center.

More to come…