A MAN, a woman and their son have appeared in court charged in connection with the death of a Poole nurse.

Pierre Legris, 60, of Burnham Drive, Bournemouth, was charged with murder after his wife, Rui Li, disappeared this May.

A week after she was last seen leaving work on Friday, May 23, her body was discovered in the boot of a car parked in Verwood Crescent, Bournemouth.

He has also been charged with the offence of bigamy, alleged to have taken place on June 25 2007, when he married Ms Li.

The nurse's stepson Jonathan, 26, of Spring Road, is charged with assisting an offender.

Irene Erosa Smith, 65, of St Clements Road in Boscombe, appeared at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court in August accused of two counts of perverting the course of justice.

The 65-year-old is the mother of Jonathan.

Prosecutors allege she gave a false statement to the police.

All three appeared at Winchester Crown Court for hearings this morning.

All three have denied the charges against them, and are set to face a trial.

Dorset Police launched a murder enquiry after the mother-of-one, who was 44, went missing in late spring.

During an inquest that was opened and adjourned at the coroners' court in Stafford Road, Bournemouth, it was heard that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.