Six people charged with murder will all be tried together, Red Deer court heard Friday.
Crown prosecutor Robin Joudrey told court the accused, all from the Rocky Mountain House area, are now all charged with second-degree murder.
They had been charged with first-degree murder.
They will all be tried by a judge and jury, which is mandatory under the Criminal Code.
Three people appeared in the prisoner docket while the others were on closed circuit television.
Disclosure of evidence from the RCMP outlining their case appears to have been solved finally.
Several defence lawyers were critical of the delay in receiving disclosure especially since all the accused remain in custody awaiting the information so their lawyers can make bail applications in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.
Cameron Paul Strawberry, 37, Terrence Andy Beaverbones, 21, Darcy John Lightfoot, 30, Evan Everest Foureyes, 21, Jenny Olivia Beaverbones, 26, and Malvina Jean Beaverbones, 36, were all charged shortly after Gordon Marlice Strawberry, 45, of the O’Chiese First Nation Reserve, located about 53 km northwest of Rocky was found dead.
Gordon Strawberry was found murdered on Sept. 18 outside a reserve residence following an all-night party.
The disclosure information only arrived in Joudrey’s office late Thursday.
One defence lawyer, Lorne Goddard, said the disclosure disc could have as much as 30 hours of witness interviews on it.
Joudrey said earlier police were interviewing as many as 30 witnesses.
All accused return to court Dec. 10 to possibly set a preliminary hearing date, which is expected to last several weeks.
A date for a preliminary hearing couldn’t be set Friday because the lawyers haven’t reviewed the lengthy disclosure.
Preliminaries are held to determine if there’s enough evidence to warrant the accused stand trial in Queen’s Bench.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com