deadmonton 2006 - other police matters
debra ann vanderhammen
On April 20th, 2006 Strathcona County RCMP investigated the case of a 44-year-old woman found dead outside a Sherwood Park drinking establishment.
Debra Ann Vanderhammen, a cook at Oscars Pub, 221 Chippewa Road, had stepped outside for a cigarette break at about 3:55 p.m.
About twenty minutes later a passerby found her unconscious on the ground in an alley beside the pub. A witness said she had "blood all over her head."
Emegency medical personnel tried to revive her but she was eventually pronounced dead at the scene.
Nearly 10 marked cars were present at the scene, as well as several unmarked cars.
A regular customer at the pub, a former 911 dispatcher, said "You just don't see this kind of (police) attendance at what would be an accident."
However, an autopsy later determined the woman died from natural causes. Details about what caused her death were not released but police said the head trauma was the result of her fall.