An 88-year-old man charged in the death of his wife over two years ago has passed away and the Crown is now working on having the charge withdrawn.

Siegfried (Fred) van Zuiden was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife Audrey after he called 911.

Police found Audrey, 80, dead in the couple’s home on Rideau Place S.W. at about 4:15 a.m. on October 4, 2016.

Van Zuiden suffered from dementia and underwent tests at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre to determine if he was fit to stand trial.

In January 2017, a judge agreed with a psychiatrist that van Zuiden's worsening dementia had rendered him medically unfit to understand the charge against him.

Prosecutor, Ken McCaffrey, says van Zuiden was living in a facility in Canmore.

Van zuiden passed away on January 6, 2019 and a funeral service was held in Calgary on Wednesday.

He came to Canada in 1952 and wrote a book about his childhood in Nazi-occupied Holland.

McCaffrey says he will bring the case to court to have the charge withdrawn and once that is done, the case will be closed.