The trial of a man case accused in relation to a murder that took place 47 years ago in Cochrane has been adjourned to early next month in the Cochrane Courts of Justice.
Ronald James Edwards, the is a 73-year-old Sundre resident who was arrested on Nov. 7 and is accused of the murder of 16-year-old Pauline Brazeau, a single mother from Saskatchewan who was found murdered on January 9, 1976.
She was last seen leaving Peppe’s Ristorante in the area of 7th Street and 17th Avenue in Calgary, at around 3 a.m.
A few hours later, her body would be found in a rural area, in Cochrane RCMP jurisdiction.
In his first expected court appearance on Nov. 21, defence lawyers asked that Edwards’ case be adjourned until Dec. 5.
James, who has a previous criminal record, also served a 10-year sentence after attacking and sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman in 1989.
Charges in the Brazeau case still remain to be proven in court.
In a court hearing on Nov. 14, it was decided that the Edwards’ case would be moved from the Alberta Justice Courts in Calgary to the Cochrane Alberta Courts of Justice.
Earlier this month, the RCMP Historical Homicide Unit (HHU) and Calgary Police Service (CPS) Cold Case Homicide Unit have laid charges in a 1976 homicide case that went unsolved for 47 years after new DNA evidence led to the arrest of Edwards.
In 2022, the HHU partnered with Othram Inc., a private lab in the United States, and the CPS later worked with two dedicated genealogists from Convergence Investigative Genetic Genealogy, in an effort to move the case forward.
