Several tips from the public have helped Alberta Fish and Wildlife Officers lay hundreds of charges against 10 people after 36 animals were found shot and left to waste in the Edson area last fall.

In November 2013, 26 deer, five moose, four elk and one black bear were found in the rural, forested areas around the town 200 km west of Edmonton. The animals had just been shot, with nothing removed as a trophy.

To move the investigation forward, officers asked the public for information and quickly began receiving tips that helped identify suspects.

“The tips are definitely a piece of the puzzle that we often need to help us move along,” said Chad Kujat, Edson fish and wildlife officer.

During the investigation, six search warrants were conducted. Evidence collected from those searches was submitted to the Alberta fish and wildlife enforcement branch forensic laboratory, the RCMP K division technological crime unit, and a private firearms forensic lab in Saskatchewan for analysis. The officers began interviewing suspects and persons of interest in January.

Derek Ronald Brown, Colton Jesse Campbell, Michaela Frances Scott, Devan Thomas Dozorec and Tiffany Brown have been charged with 204 counts under the Wildlife Act.

Three other people face a further 99 charges. Fifty of those charges relate to alleged offences while they were under the age of 18, so they can not be identified. All of the accused are scheduled to appear in an Edson courtroom on Aug. 5.

Kujat could not comment whether the accused were known to each other or where they were from, other than Alberta. He’s never seen a case like this before.

“It is on a larger scale that’s for sure,” said Kujat. “It is a lot of charges and involves quite a few people. Every case we have is different and unfolds differently.”

pamela.roth@sunmedia.ca

@SUNpamelaroth