By paNOW Staff

Melfort murder case heading to P.A. court

Mar 2, 2015 | 4:12 PM

After multiple court appearances in Melfort, the man accused of the premeditated killing of an ATM technician has a change of venue.

Daniel Smith, 57, was arrested early last year for the first degree murder of Roger Byer, who disappeared in January of 2010.

Smith – a man from a small town near Biggar – has been in custody over nine months, and moving onto the pre-trial phase will now bring him to Prince Albert’s Court of Queen’s Bench on March 20.

Byer was a traveling ATM technician who went missing in January 2010. He was last spotted in Melfort where he was servicing an ATM at a hotel. His body was not recovered until April when a farmer spotted Byer’s truck in an abandoned farm yard.

The RCMP arrested Smith after a renewed call for more information on a black truck seen in the area where Byer disappeared.

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They confirmed Smith was connected to the vehicle, and that tens of thousands of dollars were in Byer’s possession when he disappeared.

Theft was the suspected motive behind the murder, and before Smith was arrested RCMP stated they expected two people were involved.

Second man charged

Dwight Windrum, in his mid-50s, was arrested soon after Smith. The Moose Jaw man is charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder and weapons trafficking.

A preliminary hearing at Wakaw Provincial Court is set for Windrum on April 27.

At the time of Smith’s arrest, RCMP stated that Byer and Smith had been considered friends.

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