Suspect in Nadine Taylor killing......

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Police comb the area where human remains were found Friday in East Chezzetcook. (INGRID BULMER / Staff)
UPDATED 9:15 p.m. Friday

Nearly three years after Nadine Anne Taylor vanished, the man charged with murdering the Halifax woman took investigators to the site of her remains Friday. Just after noon, Steven Elliott Laffin led detectives to a spot in the woods off Inletview Road in East Chezzetcook, the RCMP said.

Sources said the remains were under some brush but not buried. Police could not confirm that account.

The remains looked to be about three car-lengths from Highway 107 at Exit 21. Police couldnâ??t explain why Laffin chose that site to leave the body.

By late Friday, a blue police tent had been set up over the area.

Scrubby evergreen trees only partially blocked the site from view of the highway or from the houses on the other side of the ditch.

A line of police tape blocked access to Inletview Road.

â??Well, thatâ??s a little close to home,â? said a man who lives just down the road.

He said he didnâ??t know Laffin or Taylor.

Several residents were shocked by the discovery of the body and described the rural community as safe and close-knit.

Major crime investigators, forensic identification officers and a medical examiner were on the scene Friday afternoon and were expected to stay overnight, Const. Pierre Bourdages of Halifax Regional Police said in an interview.

RCMP and regional police detectives working together on the case had been stymied in attempts to find the 29-year-old Taylorâ??s body.

Sources told The Chronicle Herald that police had not expected to find the body because they thought Laffin had dropped it in the water.

â??Itâ??s hard to talk about specifics, but there was some information ... (that) led investigators to believe (they) may never recover the remains,â? said Cpl. Scott MacRae of the RCMP. â??But fortunately in this case, especially for the families, we were led here today.â?

MacRae couldnâ??t say why Laffin suddenly co-operated with police or whether he had volunteered the information.

This latest development comes just days after it was learned that lawyers were in talks connected to Taylorâ??s murder and Laffinâ??s sentencing in an aggravated assault on another sex-trade worker.

Both cases are slated to be back in Halifax provincial court next Thursday.

Laffin, 38, of Dartmouth was set to go to trial next month for second-degree murder in Taylorâ??s death but he gave up his trial dates a few weeks ago and court was told he intended to plead guilty.

On Feb. 21, while Laffin sat on the prisoners bench in a Halifax courtroom, there were repeated discussions between the Crown and defence.

Laffinâ??s defence lawyer, Kevin Burke, declined comment at the time, but Crown attorney Rick Woodburn said the two sides were talking about â??sentencing and parole eligibilityâ? in the two cases.

On Friday, Woodburn said he was pleased about the discovery of the body because â??it might help provide closure for Taylorâ??s family.â?

He said he couldnâ??t say any more about the case until Laffin is back in court Thursday.

An advocate for Halifax sex workers described Taylor as a â??force of energy,â? beloved by friends and family.

Rene Ross, the executive director of Stepping Stone, an outreach and support group for sex workers, thanked police for their thorough investigation.

She said sex workers are especially vulnerable because of the perception that those who hurt them will get away with it.

Taylor was reported missing from her Fairview apartment on July 31, 2010, by her fiance, Gene Hape. Hape died last April 10.

Laffin married his live-in girlfriend on the day Taylor was reported missing.

Laffin was arrested on Sept. 21, 2010, and was charged with her murder on Oct. 27 of that year, the Mounties said.

Police have said they believe Taylor was murdered in Dartmouth sometime around July 28-29, 2010.

Investigators conducted an extensive search of Laffinâ??s home and reportedly seized several items of potential evidence.

Laffin became a suspect in Taylorâ??s disappearance after he was charged with crimes against the other sex worker in a separate case. Last fall, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping, aggravated assault, forcible confinement and uttering threats in the August 2010 attack on that woman.

The victim in that case ran to a nearby home to call 911 after she escaped from a moving car on Old Sambro Road in Halifax. She told investigators she had been attacked by a man who had driven her to a parking lot.