Preliminary hearing waived for second-degree murder suspect

The preliminary hearing for a man accused in the November 2016 death of Brenda Woloski has been waived.

Originally set to run this week, counsel has instead set down an arraignment date before the Court of Queen’s Bench for Jan. 12.

Noah Harrison Bentley was charged with second-degree murder following the death of Woloski. He has been in custody ever since, and he has yet to have a bail hearing.

Early in the year he was sent for assessment in Calgary as to whether he could be held criminally responsible. Further delays occurred in proceeding with the case as the Crown and defence counsel made multiple adjournments while waiting for the coroner’s report to be officially completed and reviewed.

Dental office fraud

A week-long preliminary inquiry started Monday for the case of a couple accused of defrauding a Medicine Hat dental office of more than $80,000.

The hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence against the pair for the case to proceed to trial — although a publication ban prevents any of the information and evidence given during the hearing from being published.

The trial for Matthew and Joanna Ridley was originally set to run in April, but counsel then opted for there to be a preliminary hearing — defence counsel was then granted an adjournment from the original preliminary hearing date due to late disclosure from the Crown.

The couple was arrested in Nov. 2015 after an investigation by Medicine Hat police. The investigation came from a complaint filed by Crestwood Dental Clinic in 2014. The alleged amount defrauded from the clinic is more than $80,000. Matthew was the clinic’s manager. He faces three counts of fraud over $5,000, while his wife Joanna was charged with a single count of the same offence.