A 44-year-old Burnaby, B.C., man accused of killing the mother of five children made his first court appearance Tuesday.
Oswill Vergara has been charged with second-degree murder.
A 38-year-old woman's body was found inside a home on 14th Avenue Monday about 3:00 p.m. after neighbours alerted police to a violent incident.
Investigators have not released her identity or details of how she died.
Some of the woman's children - aged three to 16 -- were inside the home at the time of her death. They were not hurt.
Vergara was arrested several blocks away in the parking lot of a gas station.
Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the incident appears to be a domestic slaying.
"Investigators have identified that the male suspect and the deceased were in an estranged relationship," he said.
CTV News has learned that a man with the same name was charged with assault three years ago.
Neighbours say the family was from Colombia and had lived in the home for about a year.
The children are in the care of the province's Ministry of Children and Family Development.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jina You
