Halifax Regional Police say they have charged three men with second-degree murder in the death of Derek Miles.

Miles, 42, was found in medical distress in an apartment on Pinecrest Drive in north-end Dartmouth on Jan. 19. He died at the scene and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide the next day.

George Andrew Purvis, 30, of West Chezzetcook, and his uncle Gregory Maxwell Purvis, 52, of Dartmouth, were arrested Monday. A Dartmouth man, Murray Robert Timmons, 26, was arrested at Dartmouth provincial court Tuesday.

Halifax Regional Police Supt. Jim Perrin said Miles and the three suspects all knew one another.

In a news conference Tuesday, Perrin also noted that just 36 hours after Miles died, Deborah Yorke was found dead in the same north-end Dartmouth neighbourhood.

"I think there was certainly a lot of angst in that community when this happened because we also had the Deborah Yorke homicide, both of them happened in short duration," Perrin said.

Perrin repeated the statement police made at the time of the two homicides that the cases are not related.

Brandon Jake Hollohan, 23, is charged with second-degree murder in Yorke's death.

"We're thankful that we've been able to close both homicides with charges and I think the public can be comforted by that," he said.

The three suspects in the Miles case made their first court appearances Tuesday in Dartmouth provincial court.

In addition to the murder charge, Timmons is facing three charges of breaching court orders.

Timmons and another man are also facing charges of robbery and aggravated assault related to an incident in Dartmouth in October.