No bail for ex-boyfriend in Lynn woman’s murder

LYNN – The ex-boyfriend of a Lynn woman who owned a popular hair salon in Malden was ordered held without bail Monday during his arraignment for her murder.Lesley Cheremond, 48, of Everett, pleaded innocent in Malden District Court on a charge of first-degree murder related to the death of Norma Dorce Gilles, 41, of Lynn.Judge Matthew Nestor ordered Cheremond held without bail.Gilles was found dead Wednesday in the trunk of her car, not far from Scruple, the salon she owned on Salem Street in Malden. She was strangled to death.Cheremond owned a convenience store on the same block.Gilles was reportedly working on a customer Feb. 13 when she stepped out for some coffee and never returned, leaving her customer in the chair.Gilles’ brother filed a missing persons report with Lynn police 10 days later, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.Several hours after Gilles was last seen leaving the salon, Cheremond came into the business and told a worker that he was taking Gilles’ handbag to her, prosecutors said.Inside Cheremond’s store, investigators found a key to Gilles’ car as well as trash bags that matched the type of bags that Gilles’ body was found wrapped in, according to prosecutors. Cheremond also gave inconsistent statements to friends and authorities during the two weeks Gilles was missing, including that she was on vacation, that she had left in a U-Haul truck, and that she may not be back, according to authorities.Cheremond was arrested late Friday afternoon at his residence at 30 Stuart St. in Everett.Authorities say the couple got into an argument one day before Gilles went missing.Gilles filed a restraining order against Cheremond in early February after he was charged with assaulting her.