EDMONTON - One of two teens is going back to court to once again face allegations he killed two people while on the lam from an Edmonton-area group home.
The Crown and RCMP announced Friday they have reactivated the charges against one of the boys, who were 14 when the bodies of Susan Trudel, 50, and Barry Boenke, 68, were found on Boenke's acreage near Ardrossan, east of Edmonton, on June 1, 2009.
The original charges of first-degree murder against the pair were stayed last summer when the Crown's case collapsed. The key piece of evidence, a statement by one of the accused to police, was deemed inadmissible by the trial judge.
Stayed charges can be reactivated up to a year later.
RCMP Supt. Gary Steinke told reporters Friday that after last year's setback, his investigators continued to work the case and recently came across new evidence that allowed them to lay second-degree murder charges against one of the boys.
"Last year, we were told we needed more evidence," Steinke told a news conference at the Strathcona County RCMP detachment.
"The members from Strathcona County detachment and assisting units from K Division have worked very hard to get it. We never gave up. We didn't stop."
The names of the teens can't be published under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Steinke couldn't say what the nature of the new evidence is given that the case is now back before the courts, but he said it was fortuitous.
"We weren't looking for that evidence. It was a surprise to us," he said.
Steinke said the teen also faces a new, unrelated charge of counselling others to commit murder on an unidentified male last month.
"That victim has been spoken to. He's very happy that we intervened and obviously very pleased with our investigation," said Steinke.
The youth is also charged with stealing a vehicle, possession of a weapon, and numerous charges of breaking and entering.
He was arrested recently in Edmonton and is being held in custody for court appearances that start next month, said Steinke.
The double-homicide raised concerns about public safety in 2009 after it was discovered the pair had walked away from the nearby Strathcona County Ranch, a youth treatment facility run by Bosco Homes.
The teens were caught in a stolen white pickup truck that belonged to Boenke, which led police back to Boenke's farm and the discovery of the bodies.
Boenke was found in the yard while Trudel was in the trailer.
As criticism swirled, the ranch was closed at the end of 2009.
The police still have until early July to find evidence against the second teen, and Steinke said that investigation continues.
© The Canadian Press, 2012