WESTLOCK – A two-day preliminary hearing for a 26-year-old man facing six serious charges including impaired driving causing death in relation to a fiery, late-November 2022 head-on crash on Highway 44 north of Westlock that claimed the life of an 82-year-old Chisholm woman, has been moved to early 2024.
Cole Warkentin did not physically appear in Westlock Court of Justice June 28 for his third appearance on charges of impaired driving causing death, causing death with a blood alcohol limit over .08, impaired driving causing bodily harm, causing bodily harm with a blood alcohol limit over .08, dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing death and dangerous operation of motor vehicle with a blood alcohol limit over .08 — no plea has been entered on the charges.
During a brief three-minute appearance, agent Jordan Titosky explained that Warkentin’s lawyer Christopher Millsap has recently been appointed Justice of Court of King’s Bench in Grande Prairie and was being replaced by Brian Hurley.
In addition, Justice Joanne Heudes agreed to re-schedule the preliminary hearing from Nov. 16-17 to Jan. 11-12, 2024, in Westlock Court of Justice — if the Justice that day determines there’s enough evidence to proceed to trial, the case will be heard in Court of King’s Bench, Judge Alone, in Edmonton.
According to previous reporting, around 5:30 p.m., Nov. 26, 2022, Westlock RCMP responded to a head-on collision on Highway 44 near Township Road 612 just north of the Pibroch turnoff. Police reported that a southbound Ford F-150 pickup truck appeared to have crossed the centre line and struck a northbound Chevrolet Malibu — following, the truck burst into flames.
A Nov. 28 media release from the RCMP confirmed that the driver of the Malibu, an 82-year-old woman from Chisholm, was declared dead at the scene, while her passenger and the driver of the F-150 were injured. Highway 44 was closed until midnight the day of the crash as STARS Air Ambulance was called to the scene.
During a Feb. 10 interview, Westlock RCMP Detachment acting commander Cpl. Riley Sutherland couldn’t talk about specifics of this case but said when they lay charges of this magnitude it normally entails “multiple units to complete the investigation.”
“We were waiting for all of the information and evidence to be analysed before we could proceed with charges,” said Sutherland on the delay between the date of crash and when the charges were laid in early February.
