Belyea second-degree murder trial delayed until today
By Medicine Hat News on January 9, 2024.
A two-week second-degree homicide trial at Medicine Hat’s Court of King’s Bench has been delayed until Tuesday morning. Deborah Murril Belyea, 70, stands accused of the death of her husband Alf and then hiding the body. It will be the first homicide case that proceeds to trial at Medicine Hat since the winter of 2021. Deborah Belyea, of Suffield, was charged in October 2021 after RCMP officers found human remains at a rural location near Piapot, Sask. six days after they issued a missing persons report for Alfred Harry Herbert Belyea. A preliminary hearing held in early 2023 set matter for trial on charge of second-degree murder and interfering with human remains. Belyea is represented by Calgary defence attorney Katherine Beylak. Alf Belyea served for six years on Cypress County council representing Suffield. He had already been acclaimed for another term as the only candidate in elections set to take place in mid-October 2021. On Oct. 8, Redcliff RCMP announced that Alf, 72, at the time, was the subject of a missing persons file over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. The following Saturday, a large police presence was reported at outbuildings of a farm near Piapot and charges were laid. Deborah Belyea, who has appeared in court with the aid of a walker and oxygen tank, has been out of custody since early 2022 in order to live at an assisted living facility. — with files from Collin Gallant 11-10
