A woman, who is facing charges stemming from her mother’s suicide, appeared in court Wednesday to answer to the charges.
Linda McNall, 53, from Arizona, appeared in a Hinton courtroom through closed-circuit television from the Edmonton Remand Centre Wednesday afternoon.
McNall has been accused of helping her mother, Shirley Vann, 79, commit suicide in early May - for those involved in the case, it's a rare charge to deal with.
"In 35 years, this is the first one I've ever seen," Crown Prosecutor Bob Marr said.
The Crown Prosecutor said McNall and Vann, who is also from the United States, appeared to have been on vacation before Vann’s death.
CTV News has learned Vann had moved around quite a bit, but at the time of her death, she had been living in Sierra Vista, AZ since 2011 - McNall had also been living in the same community.
It’s believed the pair had been in Canada for a few weeks before Vann’s suicide, court documents suggest Vann died on either May 9 or 10.
On May 10, RCMP found Vann's body inside a vehicle in the parking lot at Hinton's Health Centre - McNall was taken to hospital and later charged in her mother's death - the Crown Prosecutor said the cause of death is still not clear.
"I can say there's an indication of partly carbon monoxide," Marr said. "We're waiting on autopsy results on the deceased person so we really don't know yet."
The judge ordered a 30-day psychiatric assessment for McNall at Alberta Hospital.
The names of the mother and daughter were originally protected by a publication ban - but CTV News fought to have the ban lifted.
Results of McNall's assessment are slated to go before the court in July, when McNall could possibly speak to bail.
With files from Bill Fortier
