deadmonton 2006 - bryan murray lee
Bryan Murray Lee, 35, was shot to death June 13th, 2006.
Case status is open and active.
At about 12:45 a.m. on Tuesday, June 13th, 2006 police received 911 calls from neighbours about shots fired in the area near 116 A Avenue and 33rd Street.
Police and ambulance crews found a man lying on a berm along the south side of 116 A Avenue suffering from bullet wounds.
Police forensic staff examine the crime seen in daylight.
Homicide detectives were called out, and paramedics transported the man to hospital using extreme care -- even involving firefighting personnel to assist with onboard CPR.
The man arrived at hospital in critical condition and died within hours.
An autopsy determined the cause of death was gunshot and all the shots are believed to have come from the same gun. There was no indication of a pre-shooting struggle.
Police identified the man as Bryan Murray Lee, 35.
Lee was known to police as a person with a drug addiction problem and had lived in the area for a month.
Neither the gang unit or the drug section were called in to assist with the investigation, and police initially said there was no indication the death was drug related.
Despite numerous ear-witnesses, detectives have no suspects or a motive for the shooting.
Police took the unusual measure of releasing a picture of Lee in hopes that it would generate leads in the case.
Two women who saw Lee's body before police arrived figured he was just another drunk passed out on the ground -- not an uncommon sight in this east Edmonton neighbourhood.
Lee was found lying on his stomach. Police officers rolled him over onto his back to look through his pockets for identification.
"He wasn't moving. When they rolled him over he didn't have much life to him," a witnesses told the Edmonton Sun.
"He flopped. There wasn't any muscle movement on that guy. He was lying right there. It just looked like he was sleeping."
Global Edmonton interviewed a person who saw two people run away after the shooting. A black male left in a car while a white male ran towards the direction of the river valley.
CTV Edmonton interviewed a person who heard two men arguing five minutes before hearing between four and seven shots fired.
Police homicide Det. Peter Draganiuk said there were various articles – including money – found with the body.
“We don’t believe it was a robbery,” Draganiuk said. “There was some other reason for someone to shoot him.”
Draganiuk said Lee had numerous shots to his body but declined to indicate how many.
Draganiuk also said a drug-related motive hadn’t been ruled out.
Lee lived in the Abbottsfield neighbourhood with roommates, held various odd jobs and was known as a “quiet individual who kept to himself,” Draganiuk said.
A neighbour told the Sun Lee was a landscaper and was scheduled to drive to Wainwright on the day he was murdered for a job interview.
Lee, who didn’t have a serious criminal record, was Edmonton's ninth homicide of the year.
Residents of the Rundle Heights neighbourhood say violence isn't uncommon, with fights occurring regularly, gangs roaming freely and open drug dealing.
"It's a haven for crackers," said one resident.
On July 7th, 2005 18-year-old Brandon Fern was shot and stabbed to death at 3210 119 Avenue, three blocks north of where Lee was murdered.
Terence Dashielle Miller, 23, and Damien Opio, 19, were charged with second-degree murder in connection with Fern's death.
Perhaps the most notorious event in the neighbourhood's history was the abduction, sexual assault and murder of six-year-old Corrine "Punky" Gustavson in September 1992.
Gustavson's body was found two days later in an Edmonton truckyard nine kilometers from her home.
It took over a decade and advances in DNA evidence testing before her murder was solved.
Clifford Sleigh was charged in March 2003.
Two years later he was found guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault.
Sleight automatically received a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Sleigh admitted to the crime of rape, but not to murder.