Scott Devlin made his first appearance in court this afternoon.<\/p>\n
After his arrest at Union Station in Toronto yesterday, Devlin appeared at the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse via video conference while in custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 52-year-old appeared to have shorter hair and a clean-shaven face compared with the photo circulated by police.<\/p>\n
When he addressed the judge, Devlin sounded calm and collected during the brief hearing.<\/p>\n
He faces charges of second degree murder and indignity to a dead body in connection with the death of 30-year-old Mikaila Straatsma<\/a>.<\/p>\n None of the allegations have been proven in court and Devlin is presumed innocent until proven guilty.\u00a0<\/p>\n This afternoon, Devlin was banned from contacting a lengthy list of individuals.<\/p>\n A publication ban has been put in place to prevent certain details from being published during court proceedings.<\/p>\n Devlin\u2019s arrest<\/a> concludes a five-month-long saga that began when his disappearance coincided with a homicide investigation at his 731 Pine St. apartment building in June.<\/p>\n He was reported missing on June 18, and Straatsma\u2019s body was found in her apartment \u2013 just down the hall from Devlin and his family\u2019s apartment \u2013 on June 19.<\/p>\n City police said the two incidents were separate investigations for the first few months, but Devlin\u2019s disappearance and Straatsma\u2019s death were\u00a0linked when a Canada-wide warrant was issued for Devlin in late October<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the intervening months between Devlin\u2019s disappearance and his arrest, speculation abounded that the two cases were connected.<\/p>\n This summer, articles detailing Devlin\u2019s history of sexual offences \u2013 involving young girls \u2013 surfaced on social media and shocked his former coworkers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n