A court appearance linked to the murder of Karen Leclair in Lake Erie has been delayed.

Ernest Leclair, 74 - father of murder suspect Christopher Leclair - was originally set to appear before District Judge Christopher McKendrick Monday on a misdemeanor charge of tampering with physical evidence.

Instead, it has been continued until a date in late August.

After his missing daughter-in-law's body surfaced off Dunkirk, New York with a bullet wound to her head, State Police said Ernest Leclair moved the suspected murder weapon - a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson - to conceal it inside the Leclair home near Albion.

The gun was moved from above ceiling tiles in the basement to a spot behind cabinets in a bedroom.

Ernest Leclair is free on bond.

Meantime, Christopher Leclair remains in prison without bond on a charge of homicide for his wife Karen's death June 10.

Police believe he shot her in the head, bound her body with ropes and an anchor and dropped her in Lake Erie from their commercial fishing boat, the Doris M. 

His preliminary hearing is set for July 31.

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