The Alberta RCMP announced Wednesday they’ve charged a suspect in a nearly 50-year-old homicide.
Ronald James Edwards, 73, is facing a charge of non-capital murder (as it was known then) in connection with the death of Pauline Brazeau, a 16-year-old Métis girl.
RCMP said Brazeau was a single mother who moved to Calgary from Saskatchewan in the fall of 1975. She was last seen leaving Peppe’s Ristorante in downtown Calgary on Jan. 9, 1976.
“The search for Pauline’s killer has never ended over the past 47 years,” said Insp. Breanne Brown, the officer in charge of Alberta RCMP serious crimes branch, in a news release.
“Throughout the years we have always been hopeful that the person responsible would be held accountable.”
APTN News also contacted President Andrea Sandmaier of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, formerly the Métis Nation of Alberta, about the charges.
“While the circumstances around Pauline Brazeau’s death are tragic, it is heartening to see that the person responsible has been charged. It is never too late for justice to be served. I hope this news brings her family some peace,” said Sandmaier.
RCMP credited recent advancements in DNA testing – called genetic genealogy – to identify distant relations and narrow down their suspect pool based on DNA profiles that people upload voluntarily to popular genealogy sites.
