'I was a drunken young man': Cold case killer admits to fatally stabbing teen girl 49 years ago
CBC
A 49-year-old cold case homicide was put to rest inside a Calgary courtroom on Monday with both the killer and his teenage victim's daughter — who was just seven months old at the time of her mother's death — speaking publicly for the first time since murder charges were announced.
Originally charged with murder, Ronald James Edwards, now 75 years old, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of Pauline Brazeau, a 16-year-old who was killed in 1976.
Court of King's Bench Justice Robert Armstrong accepted prosecutor Patrick Bigg and defence lawyer Pawel Milczarek's joint proposal for a 6½-year sentence.
Edwards has 4½ years left to serve with credit for the time he's spent in custody.
Both Brazeau and Edwards are of Métis heritage.
"There are no memories," said Brazeau's daughter Tracy, reading from a victim impact statement. "Nothing shared between her and I, no laughs, no smiles.
"We didn't get the chance to share the love of a mother and daughter."
In 2023, Edwards, who was 26 years old at the time of the killing, was arrested at his Sundre home after investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) work done by both RCMP and Calgary police officers.
A smaller man with dark hair and a long grey beard, Edwards was offered the chance to address the court on Monday. He offered a tearful apology to Tracy.
"I'm sorry that your mother was taken from you before you had a chance to know her," he said.
"I was a drunken young man … I don't think I was capable of feeling anything, I just drank them away."
In 1976, Brazeau had just moved to Calgary from Yorkton, Sask., with her infant.
She was hanging out with friends and family on the night of Jan. 8 and into the early morning hours of Jan. 9, 1976.
The group ate at Peppe's Pizza on 17th Avenue. Brazeau lost her gloves and returned alone to look for them around 3:30 a.m.
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A 49-year-old cold case homicide was put to rest inside a Calgary courtroom on Monday with both the killer and his teenage victim's daughter — who was just seven months old at the time of her mother's death — speaking publicly for the first time since murder charges were announced.
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