Teacher's death a homicide, RCMP say

RCMP investigators now consider the death of Timberlea teacher Paula Gallant a homicide.

The determination was based on information gathered from the investigation and test results from the medical examiner's office, an RCMP spokesperson said Tuesday.

But no one is saying how Gallant was killed, or exactly when.

"I can't get into what was found at the scene. I can tell you that our forensic unit went through the vehicle and we have seized some evidence," said Const. Joe Taplin.

Gallant's body was found in the trunk of her green 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier just after midnight on Dec. 28, about two hours after her family reported her missing.

• FROM DEC. 29, 2005: Woman's body found in trunk

When the 36-year-old failed to return from an afternoon shopping trip on Dec. 27, a relative went looking for her car. It was parked outside the Beechville Lakeside Timberlea elementary school, where Gallant taught Grade 3.

RCMP officers arrived and found Gallant's body in the trunk.

At the time, investigators called her death suspicious. They had not ruled out murder or suicide.

An RCMP spokesperson said then that there was no evidence of a struggle, the car wasn't damaged, nothing appeared to be missing, and no weapon was found.

Twelve officers have been assigned to the case. Taplin said they're following leads as the come in, but they have no suspects.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to call RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

"What we're trying to do is still piece together Paula Gallant's afternoon. We know that she talked to her sisters about 1:30 that afternoon, and now we're just trying to piece everything together from then on," Taplin said.

Gallant, a new mother, was a popular teacher at Beechville Lakeside Timberlea school.

School administrators and the Halifax Regional School Board are helping students deal with the latest news. Each student has been given a letter telling them counselling is available if they feel they need it.

Gallant's relatives declined a taped interview with CBC News. But Wayne MacRae, her father-in-law, says the family thought all along that she was murdered.