Scott Douglas Quick is being charged with first degree murder in the death of Nancy Quick.
The 48-year-old was arrested without incident in Belleville yesterday afternoon shortly after 3pm.
Essex County OPP Detachment Commander Glen Miller says the nine-year case was difficult for many to deal with.
"I can only now begin to imagine the immeasurable effect that it has had on those directly involved and the citizens of Essex County who found it hard to understand why an innocent person could be murdered in this manner and left to die," says Miller.
Scott Quick is the estranged husband of the late Nancy Quick, who was hit by a van on the morning of February 23, 2006 in Emeryville as she walked to work at St. William Elementary school. She died five days later of her injuries in a Detroit hospital.
Detective Inspector David Hillman says the family was notified of the charge shortly after the arrest.
"It's one of those bittersweet things," says Hillman. "There is no happy ending, it's a very tragic story, but I think in the same sense there's always some sense of relief when somebody is arrested and it brings some potential closure."
Quick was arraigned in court Thursday afternoon. The case has been pushed to April 16 for a bail hearing.
Defense lawyer Patrick Ducharme says the prosecution will be handing over evidence before the next court date through a hard drive. "Which usually suggests to me that there is a certain volume of paperwork in relation to it," says Ducharme. "It's going to take me some time to get through that."
-- with files from Jason Viau