Four people from three separate communities were arrested this week in connection to a homicide, several months after a group of hunters found the victim’s corpse in northwestern Alberta, RCMP say.
Police charged one of the suspects, a 32-year-old man, with second-degree murder. The other three were charged with accessory after the fact to murder and indignity to a body, according to a news release issued Saturday evening.
Fairview RCMP received a call in late May after four bear hunters found a body dumped in a “remote area,” the release said. An RCMP spokesperson was unable to provide an approximate location of where the body was found, but said it was within the Fairview detachment’s jurisdiction.
RCMP major crimes unit took over the investigation, with help from the Fairview detachment, the release said.
Within days, an autopsy found the manner of death was homicide, the release said, and the victim was identified as a 54-year-old man from Manning, Alta., a town about 460 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
Eventually, the investigation shifted to the Peace River region. The local detachment started helping the major crimes unit, the release said.
Then, this week, RCMP made four arrests in connection to the homicide — nearly five months exactly since the investigation started, according to the release. The RCMP spokesperson said none of the hunters who found the victim’s body are among the accused.
The four suspects come from three different communities, the release said. One is from Manning, where the victim lived. Another lived in Fairview — about 140 kilometres southwest of Manning — and two are residents of Berwyn, Alta., about 95 kilometres south of Manning.
The 32-year-old accused of second-degree murder lived in Berwyn, the release said.
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, second-degree murder is generally a deliberate killing that was not premeditated. However, there are circumstances where someone may be charged with first degree murder even when a killing is not premeditated, including when a police officer on duty is killed, or when homicide is committed during a terrorist attack or sexual assault.
All four of the accused were remanded into custody after a bail hearing, the release said.
They are scheduled to appear virtually in the Alberta Court of Justice in Peace River, Alta., on Monday, the release said.