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When it comes to summing up murder, police place the crime into three categories:

personal (where the accused and the victim have some sort of relationship)
secondary (the accidental byproduct of some other criminal act) or
drug and gang related (where the code of the street has been broken)

With the 2007 case clearance rate hovering at just 45% (charges laid in only 15 homicides, leaving 17 cases open), the question why in most of the year's murders must still wait for the answer only arrests and trials can provide.

There are also the deaths not found to be criminal in nature that become the ultimate responsibility of the medical examiner's office. And then there are the cases that defy description or simply disappear from the headlines.

The Last Link takes a look back at 2007 ... life and death on Edmonton's streets.

The City
The Surrounding Metro Area
The Missing, The Non-criminal, The Unusual And The Unexplained

Edmonton police summed up the year in interviews with media – see Code of Silence and Gangster Lifestyle Headlines Story of 2007's Homicides. The homicide section also released their own Year End Workload Analysis/Statistical Report (opens as a .pdf).

--- related pages ---
homicide 2010 | homicide 2009 | homicide 2008

THE CITY

Edmonton's murder detectives didn't get much of a break over the holidays. On January 4th, 2007 they were called out to a downtown suite where a woman's body may have laid dead for month.

Body Found In Apartment

Only ten days had elapsed since Marilyn Elaine Badger was found dead in her house on Christmas Eve 2006 and the new year seemed to be off to a bad start. But autopsy results indicated the apartment woman's death was non-criminal, leaving the city's so-far clean murder record intact ...

#1 - Debbie Smith

... until four days later when another woman was found dead in her apartment, this time discovered perhaps a week after her demise. Debbie Elly-Smith, a known crack user, was stabbed at about the same time her rent was due. The $350 owing to the landlord was never accounted for and no one has been brought to account for her death. (Update: on April 10th, 2008 two persons were arrested and charged with second-degree murder).

#2 - Robert Wayne Joy

With the Smith case still under investigation came word that Robert Wayne Joy had been stabbed to death January 9th in an east-end home known for parties and an ever-changing list of tenants. Police charged a man with second-degree murder.

#3 - Stephane Landry

Less than two weeks later a case came up that left investigators stumped, the second of many in 2007 where charges were not laid. Stephane Landry, in Edmonton for less than half a year after moving from New Brunswick to look for work, was found stabbed to death in a Bonnie Doon alley. Despite having the unusual murder weapon and surveillance photos of a person of interest, no progress has been made in the hunt for Landry's killer.

#4 - Toddler Doe

On January 26th police dealt with the tragic case of Toddler Doe, a 3-year-old boy found beaten to death in a foster home. A 32-year-old woman was charged with second-degree murder and other offences relating to the care of a minor. The boy's birth father charged the woman with torture in a public statement.

#5 - Chancely Devlin Simpson

Chancely Devlin Simpson was found stabbed to death in a basement suite on February 16th. It took police two weeks to announce who they were looking for and a month later they found him – riding a bike at 3:00 a.m. on a very cold spring morning. Officers provided him with a cell to warm up and a charge of second-degree murder.

#6 - David Wong

The murder of David Wong was the city's first bona fide drug-related slaying of the year. A call from a tenant complaining of blood dripping through his bathroom ceiling brought police to a suite in a downtown highrise where they found Wong's body being dismembered. Four men were charged with counts of accessory to murder and offering an indignity to a body, but no one has been charged with Wong's death. Two other men were charged with burglary when they broke into Wong's St. Albert house while police were processing it.

#7 - Robert Bruce Caldwell

For the second time within a year, an argument on a city bus ended in death. A man who accused Robert Bruce Caldwell of giving him a cold stabbed him in broad daylight at the height of the morning rush hour in the middle of downtown on February 23rd. A year earlier in March 2006 Stefan William Conley was swarmed by four youths as he rode a bus on a route in south Edmonton, dying between the seats. The fatal attack on Caldwell put the issue of transit safety in the spotlight once again. Police arrested a man near the scene and charged him with second-degree murder.

#8 - Stephen Ferguson

A shotgun blast in an apartment stairwell signalled the death of Stephen Ferguson on February 26th. Police talked his shooter out of the building after a 14-hour standoff and charged him with second-degree murder. Ferguson was the city's eight homicide in as many weeks.

#9 - Stephanie Rae Butler

A five-week lull gave detectives a chance to polish off their backlog of paperwork. Then came one of the year's most horrific murders, that of Stephanie Rae Butler who was beaten to death by her own brother-in-law while police were just outside her house investigating the same man's assault on a cab driver. Second-degree murder charges, in addition to aggravated assault, were laid against the family member.

#10 - Joseph Parisien

Another murder in a well-known crackhouse caused the phone in the homicide office to ring on April 19th. “It's like the United Nations there," said a resident describing the house Joseph Parisien was gunned down in. While many people were seen fleeing the Norwood home after the shots were fired police had few leads and fewer suspects.

#11 - William George Ruptash

"He's a pretty frail old man. A nice old guy, that's for sure," was how one man described William George Ruptash. On April 24th it was discovered someone had broken down the door of the card-playing senior's inner city apartment and slit his throat. The case remains unsolved.

#12 - Ola Tinineh Moses

Circumstances surrounding the murder of Ola Tinineh Moses on May 6th in a 107th Avenue hip-hop clothing store had the headline-grabbing elements of drugs, gangs, kidnapping and an execution-style killing. Police shut down the Avenue of Nations for an entire day as they puzzled their way through the crime that woke citizens up to the fact this part of Edmonton was so dangerous “drug users tell us they're too scared to be on its streets,” according to an area beat cop. Police charged one man with weapons offences and are still looking for another. A charge of murder has yet to be laid.

#13 & #14 - The Delwood Double Murder

Then came The Delwood Double Murder: two men gunned behind a house in the city's northeast, the home of one of the victims, on May 15th. Edmonton's small Sudanese community was still reeling from the 2006 murders of Nadine Robinson-Creary, Nyibol Chuol and Thomas Tipo Orak (one of three victims of the Red Light Lounge Triple Murder). Police have not discounted a drug or gang link in the double slaying. They also have made no arrests.

#29 - Martin William Kent

It took police six months to determine that the death of Martin William Kent was a homicide. The man had been run over in a north-end parking lot on May 8th and died two weeks later in hospital. Initially investigated as a traffic accident, Kent's alleged drug connections eventually moved the matter into the murder column. (Update: on September 19th, 2008 police arrested a man and charged him with manslaughter).

#15 - Leonard Fred Halkett

What Leonard Fred Halkett needed most late May 24th in downtown Edmonton was a doctor – not the defence lawyer who found him after he was stabbed near a city men's shelter. While several persons were observed talking to the man as he was dying, no one directly observed the stabbing. Case status remains open and active.

#16 - Richard Alexander Harris

Bloodstains on the bumper of a suspicious vehicle found June 12th on the parking lot of a north-end church led police to discover the body of Richard Alexander Harris locked in its trunk. Also seemingly locked is progress in a case that police have revealed very little about. Rumours of drug connections have swirled but there has been no word on suspects or pending arrests.

#17 - Brandon Sean Dierich

The third high-profile drug-related murder of 2007 was also the first that saw a young offender charged. Brandon Sean Dierich, a man about town without visible means of support, was found slumped over in the driver's seat of his black Chrysler 300 near Mill Creek ravine on July 24th. Witnesses reported that it was a gas price-conscious cyclist who pulled the trigger, part of a possible dial-a-doper transaction gone wrong. The Dierich case also brought to widespread attention the role Facebook can play in forming a tribute to a deceased individual. The popular social networking site provided media access to candid assessment by friends of a man who seemed to live just outside the law.

#18 - Dwayne Roger Roy

Emergency operators working the 911 dispatch centre got an unusual call just before 4:00 a.m. on July 30th reporting that a man was found near death in a hospital and it wasn't because he had a life-threatening medical condition. Dwayne Roger Roy was found beaten in the normally secure psychiatric ward of the Royal Alexandra Hospital, providing detectives with their only closed-room murder case of the year. A fellow guest of the ward was charged with second-degree murder. A "not criminally responsible" plea (what they used to call not guilty by reason of insanity) seems a natural in the matter when it goes to trial.

#19 - Edward Bone

A troubled youth met his demise near a troubled park known for drug transactions on July 31st. Edward Bone was found dying from stab wounds beside his bicycle just north of Beaver Hills Park in the downtown core. Police are connecting Bone's murder to a hit-and-run accident involving a pedestrian moments later and just a block away. No arrests, no charges and no suspects in the city's third murder in seven days.

#20 - Robin Timothy Gillman

Horseplay between brothers living under a downtown bridge on August 6th brought the plight of gainfully employed but homeless workers to public attention. Not able to afford accommodation in Canada's hottest economy, Robin Timothy Gillman and three of his siblings camped out and carried on in Edmonton's river valley. Gillman died from a broken neck after a consensual wrestling match, 2007's only "non-culpable" homicide.

#21 & #22 - The Fulton Place Double Murder

With a lazy August behind them, Edmonton police had more than a handful to deal with when the Fulton Place Double Murder came in September 2nd. The incident marked another double loss for the city's Somali community and another murder at a community hall (in 2006 Evan James Grykuliak was murdered at the LaPerle facility). A drug or gang link has not been discounted by police who also have made no arrests.

#23 - James Douglas Foley

Two days later an EMS paramedic was a near-witness to the stabbing of James Douglas Foley on the Clarke Park parking lot. Foley and his car showed signs that he defended himself against at least one attacker in the broad daylight slaying. Case status remains open and active.

#24 - Judy Lynn Jones

A possible domestic dispute lay at the heart of the death of Judy Lynn Jones. Police questioned a man who was known to Jones and lived in the house with her. As yet no charges have been laid. (Update: on April 17th, 2008 Jones' common-law husband was arrested and charged with second-degree murder).

#25 - Kwandell Allan Ferguson

The body of Kwandell Allan Ferguson was found by his buddy in a metals scrapyard in the extreme eastern part of the city in a bend of the North Saskatchewan River. Police then figured the buddy responsible and charged him with second-degree murder after his story didn't add up. It was believed Ferguson was lying in the field for several days in late October.

#26 - Robert Michael Brodyk

Halloween played a cruel trick on detectives after the body of Robert Michael Brodyk was found lying in his home in a pool of blood. Brodyk's stolen truck was found the next day but police found themselves no closer to solving the murder of a "nice, hard-working middle-class schmuck" who was employed at a local food outlet.

#27 - Thanh Van Phan

It was deja vu all over again on Remembrance Day for police when Thanh Van Phan was dumped off dead at a hospital's emergency doors. Phan had been murdered in front of the Twilight Lounge, housed in a building that hosted the Red Light Lounge Triple Murder almost exactly a year prior. Investigators encountered a collective memory loss among witnesses and the case remains unsolved.

#28 - William James Kapach

Less than a week later, William James Kapach was found beaten to death in the inner city for pocket change. The mentally disabled man had just purchased his morning papers and coffee, a familiar routine cut short by still unknown assailants.

#30 - Wesal Arabi

On December 1st Wesal Arabi, another man about town without visible means of support, responded to a knock on his upscale downtown loft door at 3:30 a.m. When he asked who it was, six bullets from a high power rifle answered – with two of them penetrating a neighbouring suite. Search warrants executed at several locations yielded "just over two kilograms of cocaine and somewhere in the area of $100,000 cash or more," according to police. Two young offenders, one related to Arabi, were charged with Edmonton's sole first-degree murder offence of the year.

#31 - Nawar Jawad

The discovery on December 2nd of the body of a 24-year-old Nawar Jawad – murdered, dumped in a ditch and set on fire – prompted some local media to speculate a gang war was erupting. Jawad's body took four days to thaw before the "Y" incision could be made and investigators were determined that this would not end up as another one of the year's cold cases. Uncertain of a primary crime scene, police had no leads and no arrests. Furthermore, Jawad was a prime suspect in the May 6th murder of Ola Tinineh Moses.

#32 - Erin Anne Tilley

Another outbreak of collective memory loss plagued the investigation of Erin Anne Tilley's murder. One of several passengers in a car homeward bound after nightclubbing, Tilley was shot early December 7th after stopping at a west-end intersection. A female driver unloaded her friend at hospital after she first unloaded some her other friends. The woman wasn't injured and she wasn't talking either. Police have yet to effect an arrest.

#33 - Wing Fung

Early morning sweet-tooth plans hit a sour note when customers arrived to find the doors of a popular Chinese bakery locked on December 9th, with police forensic technicians inside and blood on the front steps outside. Wing Fung was stabbed to death after an early morning altercation at the late night cafe. Police closed the eatery, processing its contents for most of the following day. The case proved that as of now not all bakeries serve Wings. Two men were charged, one with a count of second-degree murder.

THE SURROUNDING METRO AREA

Barbara Ann Matthews

RCMP handling jurisdictions immediately outside Edmonton city got their first hot case of the new year on the cold morning of January 13th. Little is known inside of what occurred at a party inside the Enoch reserve home of Barbara Ann Matthews. It appeared that two guests, not likely to be invited back, arrived with gifts of lead. "They showed up, the firearms went off and they left," summarised a police spokesman. Two men were charged with first-degree murder.

David Kelm

“It's never very often you wake up to find a dead body in the intersection,” said a resident of the Lakeland Village Trailer Park on January 19th. “It looks like he fell down face first and that's where he stayed.” David Kelm was reported to be well-connected. Besides being a convicted gang-wannabe, Kelm was also the stepson of an Edmonton city police constable. And the trailer park he was found in was owned by Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel. Within this well-heeled social circle came up the street name "Fucker," which belonged to the man police charged with Kelm's first-degree murder.

Mahamud Yassin Yusuf

Standing 6-feet 7-inches and sporting wild wavy hair, Mahamud Yassin Yusuf would have been hard to miss. Within enough aka's to match his height (Juma Abdi, Castro and Cuba Castro among others), the former Ottawa resident was found May 20th lying off an access road in a rural subdivision near Stony Plain. Police told family members he had been shot but they haven't told anyone who got him dead. The case remains under active investigation.

Eric Olsen, left, and one of his accused assailants showing appreciation for bail-provided freedom

A May 27th house party went horribly wrong after Eric Olsen was reportedly beaten off a roof with a two-by-four or similar weapon, then suffering a further beating after he fell to the ground head first. RCMP charged six men with second-degree murder and two others with aggravated assault. Threats of retaliatory violence hung over Stony Plain's Farmers Days event held the weekend after and RCMP made good on their promise to be seen in force. Despite record-breaking sunny weather, locals kept their cool.

Leanne Lori Benwell

The body of the sole confirmed Project KARE case of 2007 was found in a field west of Wetaskiwin on June 21st. The mother of Leanne Lori Benwell said she last her daughter alive on March 12th and reported her missing April 15th. The only person arrested under the Project KARE mandate, Thomas Svekla, was in custody awaiting trial for the murder of Theresa Merrie Innes and Rachel Quinney at the time. So far no arrests have been made.

THE MISSING, THE NON-CRIMINAL, THE UNUSUAL AND THE UNEXPLAINED

There were a number of cases in 2007 that first involved homicide detectives but later ended up on the desk and in the cold rooms of the Medical Examiner's office. Some cases involved missing persons while others involved missing reasons.

John Doe

Receding snow in an Edmonton nature area revealed the body of a dead man on March 18th. The remains of a fire and bottles, some blankets but no shelter, were found nearby. On May 3rd the Chief Medical Examiner of Alberta made the unusual move of releasing a photograph of the deceased man. The medical examiner's office deals with fewer than one John or Jane Doe cases a year. “Only a small percentage remain unidentified,” an official said. For the family of Leonard Lee Smith, this particular case wasn't one of them.

Man Found Tied Up and Dead

A man returning to his home at 11202 95 A Street at about 6:30 a.m. on March 20th found his roommate tied up and dead. The Edmonton Sun reported a roommate as saying nothing unusual happened in the house overnight, although he said he did hear a couple of strange, "mournful sounds" coming from the room of the man who died. An autopsy on the 56-year-old man was inconclusive. As the death has not been proven to be criminal in nature, the identity of the victim was not released.

Missing: Kenneth Thomas Myatt

81-year-old Kenneth Thomas Myatt left his southside condo near 78th Avenue and 108th Street at about 6:30 a.m. on April 1st. He hasn't been seen since. Myatt was the uncle of Kevin Lowe, general manager of the Edmonton Oilers NHL hockey team. He also suffered from Alzheimer's. Despite an intense search, Myatt was never found.

Suspicious Death of 19-year-old

On April 7th emergency medical personnel were called to the Newton Place apartment block at 5608 118 Avenue. A 19-year-old woman was transported to the Royal Alexandra Hospital and died shortly after arriving. "People don't just drop dead at that age," said a police inspector. An autopsy completed later failed to pinpoint the cause of the woman's death.

Missing: Robert (Bobby) Samuel Neale

For the second time in the spring of 2007 authorities asked the public's help in locating a missing senior who suffers from dementia and Alzheimers. The Edson RCMP detachment reported 77-year-old Robert (Bobby) Samuel Neale was last seen by his family on May 2nd leaving his home in the Shining Bank area on foot. It was figured Neale may have been confused as to his whereabouts or destination and Edson RCMP asked anyone who may have picked up a male matching his description to contact them.

Michael Dar

A pair of buddies left a house party shortly after midnight on May 12th to go look for a friend. One man got behind the wheel of a pickup truck while the other probably thought he could better search by sitting on the truck's box cover. "It was a rather foolish decision to ride in the bed of a pickup truck," said a police traffic officer. The man was launched from the back of the truck after it negotiated a slight bend in the road, hitting the side of a brand new Ford F-150 before landing on the asphalt. The 23-year-old man was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later and while police withheld Michael Dar's name the Edmonton Sun published it when family members complained he was unfairly portrayed in the media as a foolish drunk.

Missing: Gordon John Barker

RCMP asked for the public's help in locating a man missing from Spruce Grove. 44-year-old Gordon John Barker was last seen by his family on May 8th. Police believe Barker may be driving a red 4-door 2004 Pontiac Grand Am with the Alberta license plate number EHB 696.

Missing: Stephanie Stewart

The mystery of what became of feisty 70-year-old fire-spotter Stephanie Stewart marked its first anniversary unsolved. Stewart was last heard from on August 25th, 2006 at the Athabasca Lookout Tower, 25 kilometres northwest of Hinton off of Highway 40, where she worked as a seasonal employee. Stewart's family, through the RCMP, released a video on the anniversary with hope it may jog someone's memory and generate much-needed tips to help solve a case police now considered a homicide.

Burning Man Found

"It's odd because people don't usually start on fire so we're looking into what it is," reported Insp. Teri Uhryn as she briefed media at the scene. Police had been summoned to investigate the unusual case of a man's burning body found near the riverbank south of the downtown Oliver neighbourhood on September 26th. While results of an autopsy concluded later ruled the about sixty-year-old homeless man's death as "non-criminal in nature" it was not determined how the man came to be on fire. The investigation continued under the watch of the medical examiner's office.

Missing: Jason Freedom Adam

On October 21st Jason Freedom Adam was visiting Edmonton from Lac La Biche. He was last seen outside the Shaw Conference Centre. Adam's family said his disappearance was highly unusual and he has yet to be found. (Update: on June 19th, 2008 Edmonton police announced that the disappearance of Jason Adam was being investigated by homicide detectives as foul play was suspected. See Jason Freedom Adam for the latest details).

Human Remains Found Near Vegreville

On November 3rd Vegreville RCMP responded to a complaint of partial skeletal remains discovered in a wooded area approximately 25 kilometers west of Vegreville. Investigators revealed little about the age, gender or cause of death of the person. On November 14th RCMP released several photographs of articles of clothing found near the body. As the area was thoroughly searched and with only partial remains found, investigators believed that there may be another crime scene involved. (Update: on June 24th, 2008 RCMP announced that the remains were that of Robin Douglas Goodwin, missing since September 2006.

Charred Body Found In Dumpster

Fire crews were called to the Greyhound Bus station building at about 5:30 a.m. November 22nd to attend to garbage bin engulfed in flames. Once personnel attacked the blaze they discovered the body of a dead person inside the container. The entire dumpster was taken to the medical examiner's office for further inspection, marking a rare occasion when an entire crime scene was moved. The intensity of the fire did so much damage to the body that the medical examiner was unable to obtain fingerprints and only DNA testing would be able to positively identify the person.

Man Dies In Alley

Police were called in to investigate the discovery of a body found face down in an alley by a woman driving to work at about 7:30 a.m. November 28th just north of downtown. The victim was identified as a 34-year-old resident of the area who had left his home at about one in the morning. His name was withheld at the request of his family. An autopsy determined the man's death was non-criminal and exact cause was yet to be determined by the medical examiner through toxicology tests.

Missing: Wyona Hobart

And the year ended with yet another missing senior. 72-year-old Wyona Hobart was last seen after a doctor's appointment at the University of Alberta Hospital on December 28th. Despite an intensive ground search and public appeal, the woman – who was said to have suffered depression – remains unfound. (Update: on April 12th, 2008 police found Hobart's body in the river valley just west of the High Level bridge).

--- related pages ---
homicide 2010 | homicide 2009 | homicide 2008

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 individuals named on this web site.
The Last Link on the Left practices fair presentation and the disclosure of relevant interests.

homicide 2007: life and death on Edmonton's streets