NORTH BATTLEFORD – A woman charged with first-degree murder had her matter brought before North Battlefords Provincial Court Tuesday.
Cassandra Fox, 24, and Jonathan Swiftwolfe, 27, are charged with first-degree murder in Bradley John Ham’s death. Ham’s body was found near a grid road about 30 kilometres southeast of Glaslyn on Nov. 27, 2020.
A preliminary hearing has been set for Fox and Swiftwolfe in November on the first-degree murder charge.
Fox and Swiftwolfe were also charged following a high-speed police pursuit that reached speeds up to 190 km/hour on Dec. 6, 2020. Days prior, police had issued a public safety warning and described Swiftwolfe as having the word “Westside” tattooed on the right side of his face and neck. The RCMP Crime Reduction Team, which specializes in gang activity, helped arrest Swiftwolfe east of Sweetgrass First Nation. He had a loaded firearm directly behind his seat within reach. Fox was with him at the time and she was wanted on 30 outstanding warrants including assault with a weapon and failure to comply with a release order.
Fox and Swiftwolfe are also facing charges out of Swift Current including theft of a vehicle, theft, possession of stolen property, firearms offences, and breach of court orders. The court heard that the Swift Current charges against Swiftwolfe and Fox are interconnected with the murder charges and need to be heard together in North Battleford court.
In June, Swiftwolfe started serving a four-year sentence at Saskatchewan Penitentiary for weapons and assault charges. He was arrested a month later at the penitentiary and charged with first-degree murder in Ham’s death.
Swiftwolfe was moved from the federal Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert to Drumheller Institution in Alberta at the request of the warden.
The Crown and defence are in discussions and Fox appears next in court on Feb. 2.
