Briscoe charged in Alberta prostitute's death

Michael Briscoe, a 39-year-old man awaiting a new trial in the rape and murder of Edmonton teenager Nina Courtepatte, has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Ellie May Meyer, who had been working in the sex trade.

RCMP in Edmonton announced the charges against Briscoe on Friday afternoon. He is in custody waiting for the start of his new trial in the Courtepatte case. 

Briscoe is the second person to be charged in the death of Meyer, 33, a prostitute whose body was found in a farmer's field in Strathcona County, east of Edmonton, in May 2005.

Joseph Laboucan was charged in 2008 with first-degree murder in Meyer's death. Laboucan is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, aggravated sexual assault and kidnapping in the April 2005 death of Courtepatte.

"Investigators have to go with the evidence that they have," said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes. "And as I understand the circumstances right now, the charge against both Mr. Laboucan and Briscoe are evidence-based."

Laboucan was ordered to stand trial following a preliminary hearing this month. He is to appear in court June 4.

Briscoe had been acquitted of the charges in the Courtepatte case at his original trial in 2007.

But the federal Supreme Court recently upheld a lower court ruling that found the initial trial judge had erred in finding that Briscoe didn't have the requisite intent to be convicted of the murder and sexual assault of Courtepatte and ordered a new trial.