A rally was held outside Edmonton’s courthouse Monday morning, where the bail hearing for the man accused of killing 14-year-old Indigenous teen Samuel Bird was adjourned.
Bryan Farrell, 38, is facing second-degree murder and interfering with a body charges in connection with Bird’s death.
He is also charged with 13 other offences, including aggravated assault, arson to property with disregard for human life, unauthorized possession of a firearm, assaulting a peace officer with a weapon and uttering threats. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Bird’s body was found in a rural area outside the city on Oct. 16 – more than four months after he was last seen alive on June 1.
Farrell’s court appearance was the same day Bird is being laid to rest. The accused is next scheduled to appear in court Dec. 17.
Bird last appeared on surveillance video June 1 at 8:30 p.m. walking through the grounds of Holy Cross School near 151 Street and 104 Avenue. He then went to a friend’s house in the Canora neighbourhood, at 150 Street and 106 Avenue, where he was last seen.
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That duplex was searched by police on Sept. 18. Firefighters and police were called to the home in the early hours of Sept. 29 for a fire, which authorities maintained was “highly suspicious.”
Farrell’s arson charges are related to that Sept. 29 blaze, according to his charge sheet.
–With files from Kelsey Patterson