More delays in Tailfeathers homicide case

By Lethbridge Herald on January 28, 2023.

Delon Shurtz
Lethbridge Herald
dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

The case against five people charged in relation to the death of a Fort Macleod man nearly two years ago continues to be delayed while lawyers wait to schedule a pre-trial conference.

The matter for Miranda Mae Turuk, Richard William Lavell, Randy Lee Giroux, Michelle Lee Toth and Edward Alexander Goodrich was in Lethbridge provincial court Friday, but adjourned to Feb. 10 to allow time to hold the pre-trial conference or schedule a date for it, and then schedule a preliminary hearing, which may require between one week and 10 days to run. The hearing date will be confirmed in docket court following the pre-trial conference.

Court was told defence had hoped a pre-trial conference could have already been held, but some of the lawyers still hadn’t submitted the prerequisite court documents, resulting in another delay.

The matter has already been adjourned several times over the past months while lawyers waited to receive an autopsy report relating to the death of Lane Tailfeathers of Fort Macleod. During a court hearing Dec. 9 of last year, the lawyers announced they had finally received the report.

Tailfeathers was reported missing on June 23, 2021, and a month later his remains were found in a remote area near Crowsnest Pass. RCMP investigators determined the 35-year-old man was killed in Fort Macleod between June 20 and 21 of last year.

Three of the accused, Turuk, Lavell and Giroux, are charged with second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body. Toth and Goodrich are charged with accessory after the fact to murder and interfering with a dead body.

Although the accused are jointly charged and are expected to proceed with a preliminary hearing, possibly followed by a trial in Court of King’s Bench, Toth’s lawyer, Andre Ouellette, has requested to separate his client from the rest and have his case heard in provincial court.

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