On November 7, 2023, police arrested 73-year-old Ronald James Edwards for the January 9, 1976 murder of 16-year-old Pauline Brazeau in Calgary, Alberta.
Brazeau had left Pepe’s pizzeria in Calgary at about 3 am. Her remains were found later that morning on a logging road outside of Cochrane, Alberta. She was a single mother to an infant daughter, and had recently moved to Alberta from Saskatchewan. She was also Métis, making her one of Canada’s many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The case was reopened in 2021. The FIGG investigation was conducted by Convergence Investigative Genetic Genealogy in partnership with the Calgary Police Service and the RCMP’s historical homicide unit. Othram performed the laboratory work.
Edwards is facing charges of non-capital murder, according to the 1976 Criminal Code, in the Alberta Court of Kings Bench.
Sources:
Canadian Press. “DNA Technology Results in Arrest of Alberta Man in Decades-Old Death of Young Mother.” The Star, November 8, 2023. Accessed November 9, 2023. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/dna-technology-results-in-arrest-of-alberta-man-in-decades-old-death-of-young-mother/article_ba915e12-bc87-5562-beb2-bc46c88d0ab2.html.
Mansukhani, Hiren. “Police Use DNA, Genealogy to Charge Alberta Man in 1976 Murder of Teen Girl.” Calgary Herald, November 8, 2023. Accessed November 9, 2023. https://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/73-year-old-alberta-man-charged-with-murder-of-indigenous-woman-in-1975.
Vogen, Michael. “The Alberta RCMP & Calgary Police Service Leverage Othram’s Genetic Testing Platform to Solve the 1976 Murder of Pauline Brazeau.” DNASolves.com, November 9, 2023. Accessed November 9, 2023. https://dnasolves.com/articles/pauline-brazeau-calgary/.