Ryan Jake Applegarth has been committed to stand trial for the second degree murder of Chantelle Firingstoney of Ponoka.
The two-day preliminary hearing concluded on March 17. Family members of Firingstoney were outside the courtroom on both days.
A second charge of failure to comply with a release order condition was discharged at the request of the Crown.
Applegarth is set to enter an election and a plea on April 19, 2022 at Wetaskiwin Provincial Court.
Firingstoney was found deceased at a residence in Ponoka on Nov. 5, 2020. She was 26 at the time of her death, and leaves behind four children.
Applegarth was out on bail at the time of Firingstoney’s death.
Earlier in 2020, Applegarth had been charged with another homicide in Wetaskiwin. He was charged with the second degree murder of Jamison Samuel Louis, 34, who was killed on Jan. 3, 2020.
The preliminary hearing for that case was on Jan. 15, 2022, and the trial was held from Feb. 14 to 18, 2022, at the Wetaskiwin Court of Queen’s Bench.
Applegarth’s next court appearance for the Wetaskiwin file is set for April 7, 2022 at the Wetaskiwin Court of Queen’s Bench.
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