RCMP say they have charged a 22-year old man with second degree murder in the community’s first homicide of 2013.
Staff Sergeant Rodney Koscielny tells CTV News William Kootenay is facing the charges after the death of Dolan Badger, 49.
Staff Sgt. Koscielny says officers responded to a fight at a residence around 7 a.m. Saturday, January 12.
Badger was transported to the Whitecourt hospital with serious injuries and was declared dead upon arrival.
Police say the two men knew each other through family and friends.
“These gentlemen do know each other,” Staff Sgt. Koscielny confirmed.
“This is not a hate crime. We don’t link this to a hate crime,” he added.
An autopsy is planned for Monday.
Kootenay will appear in a Whitecourt courtroom on January 22.
Badger had been a well known outreach worker with the HIV Network of Edmonton.
Whitecourt is about two hours northwest of Edmonton.
