A Cape Breton community is in shock following the presumed death of a Petit-de-Grat man and the subsequent murder charges placed against three others in the tight-knit community.

The three men charged in the case of a missing man in Petit-de-Grat, Cape Breton remain in jail awaiting their next court appearance.

On Thursday Craig Landry, 40, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. James Joseph Landry, 65, of Little Anse and Dwayne Matthew Samson, 43, of D'Escousse were charged with murder in the death of Phillip Boudreau on Saturday.

Boudreau is presumed dead after his overturned boat was found last week in Petit-de-Grat harbour.

His body has not been recovered.

Police officers told CBC News earlier in the week that they believed Boudreau was involved in an altercation with men on a larger boat. A vessel called the Twin Maggies, which is owned by C and D Fisheries Ltd. of D'Escousse, was seized as part of the investigation.

Gabriel Leblanc, a retired teacher who taught both Boudreau and Landry, said the case has left people in the close-knit fishing communities shocked.

"I can’t even get my head around it as to what motivated it, but it is sad. Basically here in Isle Madame, people are good and I know the families of those people and they are good people," he said.

The three accused are scheduled to appear in a Port Hawkesbury courtroom Monday.

Local councillor Victor David is asking his neighbours to respect the families on both sides of the case and allow the facts to come out in court.

"There are a number of assumptions [about what happened] and assumptions are the mother of all screw-ups," said David.

"There’s numerous families affected by this, there's numerous kids and grandkids affected by this. Dwayne has two young girls, Craig has a very young girl and they’re going to be affected, no matter what happens, for the rest of their lives. So we have to make sure that things that are said, that things that are going to be said, have truth to them - not just conjecture, not just assumptions."