A poster for Samuel Bird in Edmonton in September.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
A 38-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Samuel Bird, an Indigenous teenager who has been missing in Edmonton since June.
The accused, Bryan Clinton James Farrell, is facing many additional charges related to the high-profile Edmonton homicide and stands accused of interfering with the teenager’s body by disposing of it in the woods, burning down his own home, and threatening to hurt or kill the deceased teenager’s mother.
Police say Samuel’s remains were located in a rural area outside Edmonton on Thursday, a day after Mr. Farrell’s arrest.
Edmonton police say 14-year-old Samuel Bird, shown in this undated handout photo, was last seen in June when he left his home to visit a friend.HO/The Canadian Press
Samuel’s mother, Alanna Bird, previously told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Farrell is the father of Samuel’s ex-girlfriend, and that Samuel had been on his way to their house in west Edmonton the night he disappeared.
Police say they are not looking for any other suspects in the teenager’s homicide.
“After a lengthy and complex investigation, we are pleased to be able to conclude this file and hopefully bring some measure of resolution and justice to Samuel’s loved ones, who have been searching tirelessly for him,” homicide detective Jared Buhler was quoted as saying in a news release put out by the Edmonton Police Service on Thursday afternoon.
Mr. Farrell’s other charges include two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of arson to property with disregard for human life, two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon, three counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, and additional charges of unauthorized possession of a firearm, threatening and fraud.
Police did not release any other information about the charges or the circumstances of Mr. Farrell’s arrest but noted that investigators “are aware of ongoing social-media speculation on this file and wish to remind the public that harassment and threatening behaviour is unlawful.”
According to court documents, Mr. Farrell is accused of killing Samuel the night he disappeared. It is alleged that within the next day, he “did indecently interfere with the human remains of Samuel Bird by moving his deceased body to a wooded area to avoid detection.”
The arson charges relate to the fire at Mr. Farrell’s own home, a duplex, on Sept. 29, less than two weeks after the residence was searched by police, the documents say. The fraud charge alleges that Mr. Farrell defrauded TD insurance of $50,000 on the same day his duplex burned.
Mr. Farrell is also accused of assaulting three peace officers with bear spray on Oct. 5. and making a threat “to cause death or bodily harm” to Ms. Bird on Oct. 9. A police spokesperson said no information was immediately available about the context of those charges.
The two aggravated-assault charges that Mr. Farrell is facing date back to May, before Samuel disappeared. It is not clear how – or if – they relate to the investigation into Samuel’s homicide.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Earlier: A sacred fire burns in Edmonton after Samuel Bird’s disappearance
Samuel was last seen on security video walking through a schoolyard on June 1, the evening he disappeared. His mother began searching for him when he didn’t come back to her apartment that night and stopped responding to messages on social media. She reported him missing to police on June 6.
Det. Buhler previously told the media that Samuel became the subject of an intensive but unpublicized homicide investigation about 10 days after he was reported missing, and that information about his disappearance was not released publicly as part of an intentional investigative strategy.
Throughout the summer, Samuel’s disappearance fuelled large-scale search efforts led by his parents and community both inside Edmonton and in the surrounding areas, including a command post and sacred fire that burned for weeks at a central Edmonton park.
Online, the case became the subject of a flood of rumours, false tips and malicious pranks that Det. Buhler has said posed significant challenges for investigators.
In a statement posted to social media on Thursday, Ms. Bird thanked the police and others who joined the community effort to find her son.
A statement posted by Samuel Bird’s father and his family said they had “gathered to offer smudge, prayers and songs as the Edmonton Police Service confirmed they located his remains.”
They shared the message with a picture of the moon taken by Samuel’s father. Samuel’s spiritual name is Little Boy on the Moon.
Mr. Farrell is in custody, slated to make his first appearance in court Oct. 20.