Holly Jones' suspected killer married a Saultite

Before he married Vicky Lee Bolduc from the Sault, Michel Briere was a charmer and a bodybuilder.

Immediately afterward, he became a couch potato and computer geek, entranced by slasher films and a role-playing game known as Final Fantasy.

At least, that's the story told by Bolduc, the 36-year-old former Saultite who got an uncontested divorce from Briere in 1997.

On Friday, Briere was charged with abducting, murdering and dismembering 10-year-old Holly Jones (shown), some of whose body parts were found May 13 in two pieces of luggage in water in two Toronto locations.

POLICE EVIDENCE PHOTO: Bag #1 POLICE EVIDENCE PHOTO: Bag #2

Media reports indicate that Briere was fingered through DNA retrieved from a discarded pop can, which was compared to DNA taken from under Holly's fingernails.

"Oh my god," Bolduc told the National Post on Saturday. "I can't believe it would be him."

They met at Second City

Bolduc told the newspaper that she first met Briere a decade ago, when both were enrolled in a comedy improv course at Toronto's Second City comedy club.

She'd moved to Toronto from the Sault, trying to pursue an acting career.

Bolduc and Briere had married by 1993 and were planning a family, but she became increasingly concerned about the violent role-playing games in which her husband was becoming more and more involved.

"We had a communication breakdown, he got more and more into video games," Bolduc told the Post.

'I don't hate the guy'

"I tried to avoid them, I mean we'd play Super Mario together, or whatever, but all these other games, he just got right into it," Bolduc said.

"I don't hate the guy," she said. "It's been so long and I dropped out of touch with him. It's been so long."

Briere, aged 35 and originally from Toronto, was a software designer for MDS Inc., a major health and life sciences company.

In an unusual precaution taken during a brief court appearance Saturday, artists employed by news organizations were ordered to put away their sketch pads.

Why you haven't seen any images of Briere

"I must ask you to refrain from publishing any photos or sketches of the accused," Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino had told reporters the previous day.

"We still have witnesses to interview and must do everything possible to ensure the integrity of this investigation in order that justice may be fully served.

"It is anticipated that in the next few days, depending on the progress of the investigation and other investigative considerations, we will make public a photograph and other particulars of the accused," Fantino said.

The Sunday edition of the Toronto Star reports that Fantino will release a photograph of Briere on Monday.

What he looks like

The Sunday Star nonetheless provides this word description of the first-degree murder suspect: "Thick brown hair, deep brown eyes, white skin, a white shirt, a slight paunch, plump face. He stood no taller than 5 feet 7."

Briere's rented duplex is 100 metres from Holly's home, and is on the walking route Holly was believed to have used when she disappeared May 12.

Police had been watching the home for up to two weeks after Briere and other men in the neighbourhood refused to provide DNA samples.

Investigators had noticed bath mats in Briere's home with fibres that later turned out to match small green fibres found on Holly's body.