Three-week trial set for Alberta man accused in 1976 death of Calgary teen mom

Ronald James Edwards is accused of killing 16-year-old Pauline Brazeau in early January 1976.

A three-week trial has been scheduled for next year in Calgary for an Alberta man accused of killing a teenage girl in 1976.

Ronald James Edwards, 74, of Sundre, Alta., is set to appear before a judge and jury on March 3, 2025.

Edwards is charged with non-capital murder – an offence in the Criminal Code at the time of Pauline Brazeau’s death.

Brazeau, a 16-year-old Metis mother from Saskatchewan, had relocated to Calgary with her infant daughter in the fall of 1975.

She was last seen leaving a restaurant one morning in January 1976, and her body was found hours later west of the city.

Edwards was arrested as a result of an RCMP historical homicide unit and Calgary cold-case investigation using genetic genealogy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024.