deadmonton 2006 - john paul jones
John Paul Jones, 44, was stabbed to death July 6th, 2006.
Police in consultatiion with the Crown Prosecutor’s Office later decided criminal charges were not warranted.
An early morning domestic disturbance inside a southside apartment suite set the scene for Edmonton's 14th murder of the year -- the third in seven days.
Police were called to Suite 723 of Lord Byron Tower III at 216 Crown Road (near 119th Street and Whitemud Drive) at about 12:20 a.m.
Calls had come in from neighbours about a disturbance on a seventh floor balcony.
When police arrived they found three people suffering knife wounds.
John Paul Jones was arguing with his 39-year-old common-law wife when her 18-year-old daughter intervened.
Jones received a serious knife wound to the throat with a major blood vessel being cut.
A 27-year-old man, described in some reports as a family friend, then came into the suite and was stabbed in the chest "during an altercation with the common law husband" according to an early police statement.
The 27-year-old suffered a shallow wound and the 18-year-old woman also received a small cut after a chair was broken over her head.
All three were transported to hospital in separate ambulances. Jones died later in the afternoon. The other two persons injured were treated and released.
An autopsy was completed July 7th and confirmed that Jones died from complications due to his throat wound.
A police spokesman said detectives have yet to determine who was holding the knife when the man was stabbed in the throat.
"Our detectives are still trying to confirm who did exactly what to whom. They're still trying to track the progression of what happened."
The Red Cross stated in a news release they put up seven people from the suite, including five adults, two children and a family pet.
Both the Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Journal interviewed neighbours who witnessed the early morning events.
Residents in the multi-highrise and townhouse complex said they first saw the older man standing in the parking lot around midnight yelling at a woman on the seventh floor.
"They've been arguing the last couple days. He was arguing with some other guy about money too," one man said.
"It was bad," said another. "You could hear him screaming and yelling and her begging ... . It was echoing all through here."
After the man made his way into the suite the arguing continued on the balcony.
"You could hear him saying, 'I never hit you.' She was begging him to settle down, or not do whatever it was he was going to do."
"They were yelling, basically he wanted all his stuff back."
A neighbour said he heard the woman say, " 'Don't hit my daughter.' Then it went silent and a guy said, 'You just stabbed me.' "
Looking over his balcony the neighbour saw the man shove a woman. "He just cranked and hit her." He then heard a chair and a glass being thrown over the side of the balcony.
Tenants across from the suite said five people moved into the apartment late last year.
"There's people coming back and forth all the time. We don't see the man all that often, he comes and goes. They're always arguing over there, fighting and cussing. Then the kids (would get) involved, and they were swearing at each other."
"Every time we heard a sound that sounded like a gun we jumped because we thought for sure someone was going to get killed over there. They were troublemakers, that's for sure."
On December 13th, 2006 homicide investigators, in consultation with the Crown Prosecutor’s Office, decided that criminal charges against the 18-year old woman were not warranted.
In a press release, police said John Paul Jones initiated an unprovoked assault on his common-law wife. Her 18-year-old daughter attempted to intervene and was also assaulted.
The 18-year-old went to the kitchen where she grabbed a knife and returned to where the assault on her mother was still taking place.
A struggle ensued that resulted in a stab wound to the man’s neck. Jones later died in hospital.
John Paul Jones was described by his father as a polite man, an easy person to have a conversation with.
Don Jones, from his home just outside Berwick, Nova Scotia told the Sun and the Journal he was very surprised that something like this would happen to his son.
"Normally he'd stamp his feet and go away," said Don, who still wasn't sure of what had actually happened to his son.
Don said his son had served three years in the army before moving across the country holding down various jobs. He'd been a skilled car mechanic, carpenter, painter, driven a tractor trailer, delivered bread and most recently had worked as a cook at an Edmonton restaurant.
John's versatility allowed him to work various jobs and help friends with projects, Don said.
Jones said his son was involved in a rocky common-law relationship on and off for about two years and suggested his son leave the woman.
"He apparently had gone out and almost gotten into his van to go to a friend's place and let things cool off. He would always try to walk away. He never wanted to fight with anyone."
Jones' son's death came just six months after the death of his second wife.
"I haven't completely gotten over that, and now with my son, it's somewhat hard to accept," said Don.
A funeral was set to be held in Berwick on July 15th, 2006.