deadmonton 2006 - cleophus delorme mcgilvery
Cleophus Delorme McGilvery, 60, was beaten August 12th, 2006. He died September 26th, 2006.
Case status is open and active.
Cleophus Delorme McGilvery was beaten and left unconscious north of the downtown area on August 12th, 2006.
McGilvery succumbed to his injuries in hospital on September 26th. He never regained consciousness.
"He was never at a point where we would have been able to interview him," a police spokesman said.
Homicide investigators were aware of the August assault when it first came in and became officially involved when McGilvery died.
Police have no suspects in the case. No witnesses came forward at the time of the incident or in the time since.
McGilvery was not believed by police to be a homeless person.
An autopsy showed he suffered serious injuries to his body and head.
Police are asking anyone with information relating to McGilvery's death to contact them at 780-423-4567, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.tipsubmit.com - a secure tip submission web site.
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There appears to be confusion within the police service and the media over the location where McGilvery's body was found.
A police statement indicated he was beaten and found near Princess Elizabeth Avenue and 101st Street.
However, a police spokesman said a 60-year-old man's body was found on the west steps of Victoria Composite high school at about 1:45 a.m. on August 12th, 2006.
"He wasn't covered up or hidden in any way," the spokesman said, adding it wasn't believed weapons were used and that police don't know whether a number of people attacked the man or whether he knew his assailant.
"Unfortunately, because there are no witnesses or anything like that, information is really very scarce. There's not a lot of clues to go on at this point."
It was this version of events that was first reported in the Edmonton Journal, and it bears a striking resemblance to an incident that occured on August 11th, 2006 at 2:00 a.m.
In that assault, a 55-year-old man had been beaten with a temporary traffic sign. He too was found in a stairway at Victoria Composite high school. At the time, police were looking for three men.
Later editions of the Journal story stated paramedics found McGilvery on the steps of a school near the intersection of Princess Elizabeth Avenue and 101st Street, likely referring to a building on the NAIT campus.
McGilvery's death was the city's 24th homicide of 2006.
On September 30th, 2006 police reported some progress had been made in tracking down suspects in McGilvery's murder.
"We have received some information and we're following up on it," said a spokesman, who declined to say how many tips police have received or the quality of the information given to them.
"We don't want to show our cards," he said.
Cleophus McGilvery's niece Bonnie McGilvery was interviewed by the Edmonton Sun shortly after her uncle died.
"He was a defenceless old man. I'm more sad I lost my uncle for no good reason. It's a senseless killing. It was very violent and vicious what happened to him."
Bonnie told the Sun her homeless uncle was sleeping after a heavy night of drinking near Victoria School for the Performing Arts, and figures he may have been beaten for the cash he was carrying.
She said her uncle was so badly beaten that cops had to use fingerprints to identify him.
Cleophus McGilvery lived on AISH, the assured income for the severely handicapped.
Bonnie said her uncle was slightly built, had vision only in one eye and only had one lung.
He had been homeless after he was evicted from his inner-city apartment and sometimes slept at his brother's house.
A product of native residential schools, Bonnie said Cleophus battled alcoholism and roamed the streets with his sister and a couple of brothers.
McGilvery was from Saddle Lake, Alberta. He left the First Nation reserve several years ago according to a family spokesman.
He had 14 siblings, six brothers and eight sisters, and three children -- two girls and a boy.
"We're OK," McGilvery's brother Norris told the Sun. "The family is not looking for revenge. I told them the law will take care of it."
Norris said the family is putting its faith in Edmonton Police Service detectives to find the killer.