A trial date has been set for the man accused of second-degree murder in connection with the suspected homicide of a local woman.
Brenda Ware, who worked as a hairstylist at Studio 104 in Sundre and was fondly remembered by close friends as being the heart of her softball team, had last been seen alive in Didsbury in the spring of 2021 before days later being found deceased about 54 kilometres northeast of Radium, B.C. along Highway 93 in Kootenay National Park.
A subsequent, multi-jurisdictional and cross-provincial RCMP search for a person of interest led to Mounties in B.C. tracking down Philip Toner in Lake Country near Kelowna.
The initial investigation determined Ware was known to have been in Didsbury before travelling to Kootenay National Park in B.C., where her vehicle and body were found. She had last been seen by clients in Didsbury on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
Police at the time also confirmed Ware, who lived near Cremona, and Toner knew one another but did not disclose the nature of the relationship, and proceeded with pressing a charge of second-degree murder against Toner.
After being apprehended, the accused was brought back to Alberta, where the crime is believed to have occurred, and numerous scheduled court appearances were adjourned until late October when a trial date was set for June 12-30, 2023 at the Court of King’s Bench in Calgary.
The jury selection is scheduled for June 8, according to the Alberta Prosecution Service’s Calgary Rural and Regional Response Office.
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