SASKATOON – A second-degree murder charge has been withdrawn against 29-year-old Anthony Delton Burley who was accused of killing 40-year-old James Swift. Instead, Burley is now charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
When the Crown withdraws charges, they discontinue the prosecution, and those same charges can never be brought back before the court. Additional charges against Burley were withdrawn, including attempted murder and robbery. The charge of flight from police still stands.
Burley, along with Colton Lischka and Ashtin Ritzand, all from Saskatoon, were arrested in August 2022.
A preliminary hearing for Lischka and Ritzand was scheduled for June but has been adjourned to August. They are charged with second-degree murder, attempted murder, and robbery. Lischka is additionally charged with flight from police whereas Ritzand is additionally charged with breach of an undertaking.
Burley and Lischka have both been released on bail.
Warman RCMP found Swift’s body on a road near the intersection of Penner Road and Range Road 3050 on Aug. 29, 2022. A woman was also found and taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Saskatchewan RCMP’s Major Crime Unit, Warman RCMP, Corman Park Police Service, and Saskatoon Police Service investigated. Their investigation determined that Swift and the injured woman were travelling in a vehicle with three men. The vehicle stopped near the intersection of Penner Road and Rural Road 3050 and an altercation occurred. The three men then fled in a white Honda Civic.
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