Edmonton's police chief said his officers couldn't have done anything to prevent an attack on the weekend in which a 25-year-old woman was killed in her home.

Michael Butler says police should have checked on his wife after his brother was arrested Friday evening in connection to an assault on a cab driver near their southwest Edmonton home.

Ken Butler, 24, is in police custody.

On Tuesday, police Chief Mike Boyd told a news conference that the suggestion his officers could have done something to prevent her death is wrong.

"I believe that our officers did what they could do with the information they had at that time," he said.

Ken Butler faces charges of aggravated assault related to an attack on a 61-year-old cab driver just doors from the couple's house, police say.

Police believe Stephanie Butler was killed shortly after the cabbie was beaten and say Ken will be charged with murder, break-and-enter, and breach of recognizance in connection to her attack.

Boyd said police had no reason to check on Stephanie Butler when they took her brother-in-law into custody after the cabbie beating Friday night. 

"It is easy to look back in time with the information that we have now to say that we should have or could have done something different," said Boyd. 

"There is nothing in my view as the chief of police that our officers could have done to prevent the tragic loss of Ms. Butler's life or the assault on the cab driver."

Victim's brother-in-law faces charges

But Michael Butler, who held a private discussion with Boyd before the news conference, said police had good reason to check his house.

Just days before his wife's death, Michael Butler called police when his brother tried to break into their house. Ken Butler was released on $300 bail and a justice of the peace ordered him to stay away from the couple's home.

"Actions speak louder than words and people are not going to have faith in the police until changes are made in the justice system," said Michael Butler after Boyd's news conference.

Michael Butler was out of town when his wife's body was found by her parents Saturday.

Ken Butler is now undergoing a 30-day psychiatric evaluation. An autopsy revealed Tuesday that Stephanie Butler was killed by a blow to the head.