Peter Nielsen was arraigned on Wednesday morning before Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile, at the Lagos High Court sitting in the Igbosere area of the island.
The suspect appeared before the judge on two counts of murder, an offence contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2015.
He, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.
In the counts, 53-year-old Neilsen allegedly killed his 37-year-old wife, Zainab, and his three-year-old daughter, Petra, on April 5, 2018, at about 3:45 am at their Banana Island residence in the Ikoyi area of the state.
The suspect after his arrest
Before his arraignment today, a Chief Magistrate Court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos had ordered his remand in custody.
The police had told the Magistrate that Neilsen hit his wife’s head against the wall several times, inflicting fatal injuries which led to her death.
He was also alleged to have poisoned his daughter and tried to cover up the said murder incidents as a domestic accident.
“He had dragged their bodies under the gas to create the impression that they suffocated to death as a result of a gas leakage,” said a police officer, Effiong Asuquo, had told the court.
Until her death, Zainab was the Nigerian singer popularly known by her stage name, Alizee.