deadmonton 2006 - jerry nguyen
Jerry Nguyen, 25, was shot to death May 29th, 2006.
Case status is open and active.
Latest update | Nguyen background.
On May 30th 23-year-old postal worker Shawn Bochar was watching morning television when he recognised the neighbourhood being shown in connection with a homicide story.
He also recognised his own house.
Bochar, right, talks to police at the scene.
"I was just getting ready to go to work and I turned on the news and I was like, 'What the hell? That's my house, I better go check it out,' " Bochar said. "It's kind of shocking."
It seems the night before at about 11:22 p.m., a woman entered a two-storey residence at 155th Avenue and 46th Street.
Inside on the main floor she found the body of a dead man.
The woman called 911 and police and emergency medical staff soon arrived.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene and appeared to have been dead for at least a number of hours.
630 CHED radio reported the man was shot several times.
Police said the man was known to them but did not know if he lived at the house.
Bochar later learned a man matching the description given by news reports and who had just started renting the house a few months earlier was the victim.
Bochar said he knew the dead man, Jerry Nguyen, for about a year and described him as a "pretty nice guy" who said he worked in construction. Bochar said he knew the man's parents who he described as "pretty rich."
"I didn't know him the greatest, but he seemed pretty good to me," Bochar said.
Bochar said he bought the house in 2005 and moved in back in December. He said Jerry Nguyen moved in and rented the home as of March, 2006. Bochar meanwhile had moved in with his grandmother to take care of her.
Homicide detectives were aided by both the gang unit and the drug squad. Police said there were indications that the death was gang-related.
Police forensic teams did not not move the body for nearly 24 hours.
"(Investigators) could be a couple of days at the scene," said Detective Bill Clark. "It's a bit more complicated than some other crime scenes."
RCMP firearms specialists were called in and Clark said the time of death could have been hours or days before the body was found. Bochar said he hadn't been to his home for at least four days.
An autopsy was scheduled for June 1st.
CTV Edmonton reported that a dark-coloured SUV was parked for hours in front of the house on several afternoons before the murder. The Sun reported neighbours saying a muscular man was seen going into the house.
Global News reported a neighbour heard a gunshot coming from the house two weeks prior to the current incident.
Police said they have no suspects or a motive. They have also not said why the woman who found the body was at the home.
Bochar said police told him he won't be able to return to his house for a few days. He was planning on fixing up the home before selling it.
"I don't know," Bochar said. "I might have to sell it early, I guess. It happens, man."
Jerry Nguyen was Edmonton's 8th homicide of 2006.
Ongoing Developments
June 1st, 2006
Police announced they traced Nguyen's movements back to May 26th.
Detective Bill Clark said, "We're still trying to track down all his friends."
"He has a long history and we're just looking into all the angles," Clark said. "There is a definite gang connection."
June 2nd, 2006
The Edmonton medical examiner office released its report and confirmed that Nguyen died from a gunshot wound.
Homicide detectives said they were still acting on tips and are looking for more information. The gang unit continues to assist with the investigation.
Nguyen's background
In 2002, Jerry Nguyen had charges against him stayed for his part in a massive drug and gang court case.
Police raids carried out in September 1999 netted 40 persons, 34 of whom were charged with being part of a criminal organisation, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and possessing proceeds of crime.
The case was so large the trial was split in two and a special super-courtroom was built to accommodate the proceedings.
Delays due to the courtroom's construction, and a lengthy disclosure process that involved hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence, led to charges being stayed against a large number of persons.
When Nguyen was released the case had dropped to 11 defendants after defence legal fees and other expenses had cost the federal government $3.8 million.
At the time, Crown prosecutors denied the case was falling apart.
Court documents prepared for the trial indicated Nguyen was part of a criminal organisation known as the Trang gang.
Nguyen was described as an alleged branch manager who was also involved in guns and violence for the gang.
Nguyen was also part of a group that launched a lawsuit against the Alberta Government protesting conditions at the Edmonton Remand Centre.