Accused in 1976 Calgary murder case not in court for first appearance
Posted Nov 14, 2023 11:50 am.
Last Updated Nov 14, 2023 2:40 pm.
A man accused of killing a teenage girl 47 years ago had his first court appearance Tuesday, though he was not in the Calgary courtroom.
An arrest was made in the 1976 case last week, when police charged 72-year-old Ronald James Edwards with non-capital murder.
Pauline Brazeau, a 16-year-old single mom, had just moved to Calgary from Saskatchewan.
She was last seen at a restaurant on 17 Avenue in January 1976.
Read more: Calgary police lay charges in 1976 murder of teenager
A short time later, police say her body was found in a wooded area near Cochrane. Investigators allege she was fatally stabbed.
After being declared a cold case for decades, progress was made using new DNA technology in 2021. Those developments led police to a suspect.
Edwards, of Sundre, now faces a charge of non-capital murder, which is how the crime appeared in the Criminal Code in the 1970s.
The case has been moved to Nov. 21 in Cochrane court.
-With files from The Canadian Press
