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Crown to seek adult sentences in murders

The Crown says it will seek adult sentences for two 14-year-old boys if they are found guilty in the slayings of a couple near Edmonton.

The Crown says it will seek adult sentences for two 14-year-old boys if they are found guilty in the slayings of a couple near Edmonton.

The statement from a prosecutor came as the boys made their first court appearance Tuesday via closed-circuit television in a Sherwood Park courtroom.

One of the boys reserved his plea to two charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Baldur Boenke, 68, and his girlfriend, Susan Trudel, 50.

Their bodies were discovered early last week on a property just east of the city.

The second youth, who is charged with being an accessory after the fact, entered a plea of not guilty.

Both boys will return to court July 14.

Tuesday was the first time relatives of the slain pair had a chance to see the accused.

“It was disturbing because they look like little kids,” said Gerlind Koesling, Boenke’s sister. “I was expecting someone looking rough.”

Neither boy showed any emotion during the court appearance — one of them looked down as the charges were read out.

“These kids had no facial expressions,” said Reshelle D’Aoust, in court supporting Susan Trudel’s family.

On May 30, the boys were picked up by Mounties, charged with mischief and returned to a Bosco Homes facility for troubled teens.

Police allege the pair slipped away less than 24 hours later.

Two young males were picked up a short time later in a stolen vehicle and when officers went to notify the owners, they found Boenke and Trudel dead at her rural trailer.

The killings have rattled many who live near the group home and on Tuesday, residents met with Bosco officials, RCMP and government representatives.

Residents say they have long had concerns about runaways from the home and their voices have gone largely unheard.