A second man has been charged with first-degree murder in the 2015 homicide of Christine MacNeil, Gatineau police said Wednesday during a news conference.

Police said they arrested and charged Emilio Spezzano, 57, in the woman's death.

MacNeil, 25, was shot in what police have said was a targeted killing at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on Rue Laurier on Oct. 19, 2015.

Police first charged 53-year-old Blake Dooley of Ottawa with first-degree murder in February 2016.

Spezzano had a "romantic relationship" with MacNeil for nearly four years, but it ended shortly before the homicide, said Gatineau police spokesman Sgt. Jean-Paul Le May outside the force's headquarters Wednesday afternoon.

Ottawa police intercepted Spezzano at around 2 p.m. Wednesday as he was driving in the city's east end and took him into custody, Le May said.

"It was an arrest without a story. Everything went well," he said.

The Four Points Sheraton Hotel is seen in Gatineau, Que., on June 14, 2017. Gatineau police announced Wednesday that they had charged a second person with first-degree murder in the death of Christine MacNeil, who was shot to death at the hotel in October 2015. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC)

Tenacious investigation paid off, police say

Police also confirmed Wednesday that Spezzano was not at the scene when MacNeil was killed.

Spezzano is scheduled to appear at the Gatineau courthouse Thursday. Police are not expecting to make further arrests or lay additional charges in connection with MacNeil's death, Le May added.

"The investigation continued tenaciously following the arrest of Blake Dooley last year. The persistence of the investigators allowed us to gather sufficient evidence to bring Emilio Spezzano to justice," he said.

According to court records in Ottawa, Dooley has a lengthy criminal history including convictions for assault with a weapon and aggravated assault.

MacNeil's father, John MacNeil, has previously described his daughter as a "happy-go-lucky young lady" who worked at a salon in Ottawa.

In early 2016, Gatineau police released a computer-generated sketch of a person of interest in the case. Gatineau police previously said they conducted searches last year at three Ottawa addresses on Mountshannon Drive, Woodroffe Avenue and Field Street as part of their investigation.