PRINCE ALBERT – Charges that were stayed against a man accused of killing 20-year-old Alex Whitehead have been brought back to life on Feb. 20.
Richard Budd was arrested in April 2022 and charged with second-degree murder. After a preliminary hearing in January 2023, he was committed to stand trial on the reduced charge of manslaughter.
On March 20, 2023, however, a stay of proceedings was entered on the manslaughter charge. When the Crown stays charges, they put the charges on hold. This means the charges can still be "brought back to life," within one year and the person could be prosecuted again on those same charges but this rarely happens.
On Wednesday, Prince Albert Police Service said that since the stay of proceedings was entered last March, its Criminal Investigations Division continued to investigate and as a result, new evidence was gathered and the charge laid again.
Budd is now scheduled to appear in Prince Albert Provincial Court on Feb. 23 on a charge of manslaughter in Whitehead’s death.
Whitehead was found with life-threatening injuries in the 200 block of 13th Street East just before 4 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2022. He was taken to Victoria Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Story corrected to say that Alex Whitenhead was found with life-threatening injuries.
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