Second-degree murder charge laid after body found following fire in 2019

Police and fire crews found a body when they were called to a fire near Slave Lake on May 31.

Edmonton — A man has been charged with second-degree murder after a body was found after a fire in the Hamlet of Widewater, Alta in 2019.

Police were called to the scene of a fire around 1:30 a.m. on May 31, 2019 after fire crews found a body after putting out a fire.

The victim was identified as Darren Dawson, 30.

An autopsy determined that Dawson’s death was a homicide.

On Sept. 18, 2020, police arrested and charged Matthew Perry, 24, with second-degree murder, arson and causing an indignity to a body.

Perry was already in custody at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre for unrelated offences.

He remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in Slave Lake Provincial Court on Sept. 23.