Col. Russell Williams appeared in court Thursday via video link from the Quinte Detention Centre. Col. Russell Williams appeared in court Thursday via video link from the Quinte Detention Centre. (Alex Tavshunsky/CBC)

Col. Russell Williams, who is charged with the murder of two eastern Ontario women, appeared briefly in court via video link Thursday.

Williams, 47, who was dressed in orange prison overalls, spent only a few minutes before the video camera at the Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, Ont., which was linked to a courtroom in Belleville.

The former base commander of CFB Trenton was told he would be remanded in custody until April 29 and asked if he understood.

"Yes, thank you," he said in a strong, polite voice.

Williams was arrested on Feb. 7 and charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38, as well as counts of breaking and entering, forcible confinement and the sexual assault of two other women in Tweed, Ont., a small community north of Belleville.