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Lillian Berube, 83, was beaten during a home robbery on August 27th, 1987. She died in hospital six days later.

The case remained open until November 4th, 2009 when Charles William Abou, 41, was charged with second-degree murder and break and enter and commit.

breaking news | arrest announced | first court appearance

It was the dogs days of summer and Lillian Berube had spent the afternoon working in her garden at 11630 90 Street.

The 83-year-old widow had no children and lived alone in her modest bungalow in Norwood, not one of Edmonton's safer neighbourhoods – then or now.

Wisely, Lillian and a neighbour shared a secret signal: should either of them not open the curtains in the morning, that meant something was amiss. It was a good idea ... and it almost saved her life.

By evening on that late August day in 1987, Lillian was back inside her home ... but sometime after 7:00 p.m. an intruder broke in and attacked her.

It was hardly a fair fight.

Lillian stood just 5-feet 4-inches and weighed only 145 pounds. Despite her size and age, she was more than what her burglar had bargained for.

During the ensuing struggle, Lillian managed to yank a thatch of long black hair from her assailant.

Forensics officers also found an unusual pierced earring – with 3 dangling chains, each one with a gold heart on the end – likely lost during the fight.

But it would be over two decades – and after advances in medical science – before the fruits of the woman's valiant efforts paid off.

At the time, Lillian paid dearly for the struggle to defend her home. She was repeatedly punched and kicked into unconsciousness in her kitchen, suffering severe neck injuries, a fractured jaw, broken ribs along with other injuries.

Afterward, the man who broke into her home embarked on a rampage.

Every room in the house was ransacked, seemingly with a vengeance. The senior's cash and jewelry were taken ... but that was apparently not enough.

The robber unleashed his fury in the basement, where he took a claw hammer and beat on the home's natural gas meter. Police later found the hammer embedded in the furnace's chimney pipe.

“We're not really sure if it was an attempt to burn the place or just someone fuming in a fit of anger,” homicide Det. Tom Peebles said at the time.

The next morning, Lillian's neighbour noticed the drapes of her house hadn't moved and she went over to knock on Lillian's door.

Lillian was just conscious enough to drag herself over to the screen door to let her friend in. She died six days later in hospital.

Det. Peebles said it was the most disgusting attack he'd ever seen.

Police issued a vague description of a suspect they felt was responsible for Lillian's death.

Based on what evidence they had, he was either native or Oriental, 19 to 20 years old, 5-feet 4-inches tall, with a slight build and dark shoulder-length hair.

Then EPS File #87-131509 went cold. The trickle of leads investigators had developed soon dried up and the stolen items never surfaced.

Over time, rewards were offered and increased, eventually reaching $40,000 from police – in addition to $3,500 from an anonymous donor.

FBI profilers were engaged to draw up a psychological profile of Berube's likely attacker – read more »

In March 1993, a 14-man team holed up in the Centre Suite Hotel for ten days to pour over 14 unsolved homicides and one attempted murder drawn from Edmonton and Calgary city police files and from RCMP detachments across Alberta.

The panel of four FBI profilers, two Canadian profilers, six Canadian trainees and two psychologists was put together to examine evidence and paint psychological portraits of likely offenders in an effort to crack unsolved cases.

"This is a process used when normal investigative procedures are exhausted," RCMP Insp. Rod McKay told media in advance of the exercise.

Three years earlier, McKay had become the first Canadian police officer trained in profiling at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.

He said profiling is useful in cases where the offender's behaviour doesn't seem to make sense, but cautioned the method was only a tool.

"Profiles don't solve crimes. Investigators solve crimes," McKay stated.

"We strive to give the agency a psychological picture, age, sex, race, demeanor, how he deals with other people, education, etc."

While the complete list of cases wasn't revealed, Berube's murder was confirmed as one they would be looking at.

Also included were the murders of five Calgary and two Edmonton prostitutes.

In early April 1993, the lead investigator on Berube's file released the profile developed for her murderer.

The profile indicated the killer probably lived within walking distance of Berube's home and he probably felt no remorse for her death.

If she hadn't tried to defend herself he wouldn't have had to kill her, the profile read.

"His intent was to steal, mainly," Det. Tom Peebles said. "He was surprised by the determination of resistance; he overreacted to it."

It was thought Berube's killer:

Was a native male between 16 and 20 years old;

Had below-average intelligence and poor personal hygiene;

Was unlikely to own a vehicle or be married, and any relationships with females would have been filled with conflict and arguments;

Was easily frustrated, which often manifested itself in violence;

The report suggested after he left Berube's house, the killer probably did several things that drew attention to his involvement in the crime:

He was highly agitated and isolated himself from friends for a period of time;

Overused alcohol or drugs to calm himself;

He would have started conversations about the crime to learn what was happening with the investigation, showing an unusual interest in the case;

Sold the stolen goods as quickly as possible, with the possible exception of one piece of jewelry he may have given to a significant woman in his life.

"He has probably been in and out of jail quite a few times," Peebles added.

Sixteen years later, when a suspect was finally arrested for Berube's murder, he was serving time in a British Columbia jail for his 46th criminal conviction.

Parole documents indicated he had a long history of substance abuse.

Berube's file haunted the Historical Homicides pages of the Edmonton Police Service website for years. Despite the passage of time, detectives continued to work the file.

Breaking news

After twenty-two years, the strand of hair the feisty woman pulled from her attacker's head finally made its way to the top of a long list of samples to be tested at a DNA databank in Ottawa.

A match came back. And no doubt investigators were surprised to discover that the man they were after was already in police custody, serving time in a British Columbia jail.

News that a suspect had been identified in connection with Lillian Berube's murder was broken by Tony Blais of the Edmonton Sun, posted online on October 28th, 2009 and published in print the next day.

Blais quoted courthouse sources who said Edmonton police had brought forward information listing charges against a man after he was visited by homicide detectives in September.

The source said investigators were led to the man after DNA analysis provided a match.

An Edmonton Police Service spokesman told the reporter he was unable to confirm the arrest.

“At this point in time, to my knowledge, an accused has not been formally charged so it would be difficult to confirm any information about the case in question,” the spokesman said.

Competing news outlets did their best to advance the story in the days that followed.

“Charges are pending against a man in connection with the 1987 homicide of Lillian Berube,” a police spokesman told the Edmonton Journal.

The Journal reported that police could not say who the man was or how he was found, since the charges had not been officially sworn against him.

Once the charges were laid, the spokesman offered, more information would be made available.

Arrest announced

A week after the story first broke that a person of interest had been found, police announced that charges had been laid in the Lillian Berube murder case.

Charles William Abou was charged with second-degree murder along with break and enter and commit.

Abou, 41, was officially identified simply as a man living in British Columbia. He was scheduled to appear in an Edmonton courtroom on November 5th for formal charging.

In 1987, Abou would have been 19 years old.

Speaking before media, cold case homicide detective Brad Mandrusiak offered what details he could.

"The Edmonton Police Service has laid charges in a historical homicide that, I think it's fair to say, shocked the community back in 1987, the homicide of Lillian Berube," Mandrusiak announced.

"There was an extensive investigation that was done back in 1987 by the Edmonton Police Service, where there were ... several suspects that were identified and ultimately cleared.

"None of the suspects that had been identified at that point in time was the accused in this particular case."

Mandrusiak was reluctant to confirm that DNA evidence led to the arrest because the case was now before the courts.

"Did she help us solve this case? Yeah ... in a way I think she probably did.

"But I would say this ... in these particular cases, historical homicides in particular, with the passage of time relationships change, there are advances in scientific technology that will allow us and afford us the ability to move some of these older, tougher cases forward.

"We diligently pursue these things, we do not forget.

"Any time you have an attack upon a person that appears to happen for no apparent reason, which could have been one of my relatives or one of your relatives, it hits home hard," Mandrusiak said.

"I can tell you that the initial investigators that were originally involved in 1987 have not forgotten this case."

Howie Antoniak, who worked Berube's case in 1987 as a constable and is now a homicide detective, delivered the news of the arrest to Berube's family.

"It was a long time coming and the family members were very very happy, very gracious," Mandrusiak said.

"There was excellent police work that was done 20 years ago and it certainly assisted us in putting this case together, there's absolutely no question about that."

Mandrusiak said he couldn't remember a case that took so long to solve.

At the time police announced the arrest, Abou had already been transferred from the Matsqui Institution, a medium-security facility located 70 kilometres east of Vancouver, to the Edmonton Remand Centre.

Abou was serving a two-year sentence for drug possession and break and entering, part of a criminal career that included 46 convictions, mostly for property-related crimes in addition to three for assault.

Parole documents indicated Abou has issues with drug and alcohol addiction, including heroin and crack.

Abou had a history of breaking into homes while they were occupied. In two cases, he entered houses that were occupied by women.

Police figure Abou was a transient at the time of Berube's murder, and that the attack was random. He was never identified as a suspect during the initial investigation.

At some point, Abou had been ordered to submit a DNA sample as part of a sentencing. It was that decision that ultimately linked him to Berube's murder.

First court appearance

On November 5th, 2009 Charles William Abou was in and out of court so fast that his lawyer – if he had one – could have double-parked and gotten away with it.

Berube's family had to wait for more than two hours to see the man charged with Lillian's murder.

In a matter of minutes, the appearance was set over to November 18th so that Abou could secure a lawyer, likely through Legal Aid.

Outside the courtroom Berube's family declined media invitations to comment, saying that they had been asked not to speak about the case as it was now before the courts.

One person willing to speak to CBC Edmonton was Berube's longtime neighbour – read more »

The Edmonton Police Service web site entry for Lillian Berube can be seen here.

All the information presented on this page has been compiled primarily from published media reports and should not be interpreted as having legal bearing or other prejudice against the individuals named on this web site.
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deadmonton 1987 - lillian berube