A 73-year-old Canadian man was charged Tuesday with murdering a Métis single mother 47 years ago, Global News reported.
Canadian police identified the suspect in the murder of 16-year-old Pauline Brazeau in 1976 as Ronald James Edwards using DNA technology, Global News reported. (RELATED: REPORT: Deck Of Cards Investigative Technique Help Police Identify Victim In 20-Year Cold Case Mystery)
Thanks to new technology and DNA genealogy, a cold case nearly five decades old may have been solved. A teenager was murdered on her way home from a restaurant in 1976, and just days ago, an arrest was made. Jill Croteau reports. pic.twitter.com/tFbpQpZJiT
— Global Calgary (@GlobalCalgary) November 8, 2023
Police say the victim, a known hitchhiker, was found in a forestry road and had had intercourse prior to her murder, the Calgary Herald reported. The cold case was reopened in 2021 as a partnership between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Calgary police using an American private forensics lab that aimed to reassess old homicide investigations from “the Calgary area” from the 1970s, the outlet noted.
“With the advancements in DNA technology, the police are now able to use investigative genetic genealogy to help identify investigative leads,” RCMP Supt. David Hall told Global News.
Edwards is now slated to appear in court on Nov. 14, the outlet reported.
“For the last 47 years, Pauline’s connection to Calgary has been at the forefront of our investigators’ minds and they worked closely with the RCMP to ensure her case remained a priority,” Calgary Police Supt. Ryan Ayliffe told CBC.
Since the case is so old that it dates from a time when Canadian law classified murder either as capital or non-capital murder, Edwards has been charged with non-capital murder, Global News reported.
“The Alberta RCMP historical homicide unit investigators are committed to speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. The search for Pauline’s killer has never ended over the past 47 years,” Insp. Breanne Brown, officer in charge of the Alberta RCMP’s serious crimes branch, told CBC.