By Sheldon Spackman

2021 Incident

Life sentence for Red Deer woman convicted in Grande Prairie man’s death

Mar 10, 2026 | 11:44 AM

A Red Deer woman charged in the death of a missing Grande Prairie man has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years. 

Brianna Lindsay Ruf-Dietz, 36, was sentenced in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench on Friday, March 6, 2026, and also received a firearm prohibition after being convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Tyler Johnson of Grande Prairie. 

Alberta RCMP Major Crimes, along with the assistance of Maskwacis RCMP and the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), arrested Ruf-Dietz in Edmonton on Oct. 12, 2021. 

Maskwacis RCMP say she was arrested following the results of an autopsy in March of that year, in which Alberta RCMP Major Crimes identified human remains as belonging to those of missing person, Tyler Johnson. 

Johnson’s remains were found on March 8, 2021, in a house that was recently burned to the ground near Maskwacis, Alta. 

According to EPS, Johnson had been missing since Jan. 12, 2021, and his disappearance was considered out of character. 

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