Jarvis Appearance in Court Delayed until Feb. 17

The man accused of murdering his estranged wife in December in Merritt has had his latest court appearance delayed.

On Tuesday, 49-year-old Christopher Jarvis was scheduled to appear in court via video conferencing to set a trial date for a charge of second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Pamela Jarvis.

The defendant and his legal counsel were expected to make their decision known as to whether to be tried by a judge alone or have a jury present.

That date has been adjourned to Feb. 17, once again in Merritt.

Christopher Jarvis has made three previous court appearances (December 17th, January 6th, and January 20th), and he will remain in custody.

On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Pamela Jarvis, a 45-year-old mother of six, was discovered 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, Christopher Jarvis, and charged him with second-degree murder in connection with the assault.

The murder of Pamela Jarvis also drew the attention of 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.”