Husband of Alberta teacher charged with murder
CBC News
Posted: Aug 15, 2011 4:07 PM MT
Last Updated: Aug 15, 2011 8:38 PM MT
An Alberta man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife on a B.C. lake in August 2010.
Laura Letts-Beckett, a 50-year-old teacher from Westlock, Alta., died Aug. 18, 2010, after reportedly falling into the water while she was fishing in a Zodiac with her husband on Upper Arrow Lake in Shelter Bay Provincial Park, B.C.
Laura Letts-Beckett, 50, died Aug. 18, 2010. Her husband was charged last week in her death. FacebookAt the time, police were told Letts-Beckett was standing in the boat when she fell into the water. Attempts to resuscitate her were not successful.
Revelstoke RCMP turned the case over to the Major Crime Unit in November. The results of the investigation were forwarded to the B.C. Crown prosecutor's office.
Peter Ernest Edward Beckett, 54, was arrested Aug. 12 in Christina Lake, B.C., and charged with first-degree murder. He was remanded into custody and will appear in court Thursday in Kelowna.
Letts-Beckett was a longtime teacher at the elementary school in the nearby hamlet of Dapp where she taught grades one and two. Peter Beckett used to drive a school bus part-time for the same school district.
"People had gone through the whole grieving process last year and thought it was accidental," said the superintendent of the Pembina Hills School Division, Egbert Stang. "Now that charges have been laid, of course, that does affect everyone."
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