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A day after the discovery of the city's latest dead body, Edmonton police chief Mike Boyd said, "At this point, it's premature to call it a murder; however we are treating it as a homicide and our homicide investigators were called in."

At around 8 a.m. September 23rd, 2006 police and paramedics were contacted after a dead body was found pinned under a pickup truck near the Clover Bar landfill.

A City of Edmonton crew, checking for garbage along a route close to the Waste Management Centre, spotted an abandoned Dodge Dakota pickup truck lying just off a ditch on the north side of 130 Avenue west of Meridian Street.

The Edmonton Journal quoted one of the workers who said he and a colleague first spotted the truck.

"I said, 'This doesn't seem right.' The door was wide open and there was no key in the ignition," the man recalled.

One of the workers decided to walk around the truck and saw the body underneath the vehicle.

"He said, 'There's an arm sticking out.' "

The victim, an unidentified man, was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The scene is a little convoluted right now. It doesn’t appear it’s a normal accident, if there such a thing. There’s got to be something else. So we’re trying to piece that together as to what actually transpired, how this accident took place,” said Insp. Dan Jones.

"It certainly is very strange. Finding an abandoned vehicle in a ditch isn't unusual, but finding a body underneath it is," a police spokesman said. "Homicide (unit) is being brought out because of the suspicious circumstances."

Police believed the half-ton truck was eastbound on the gravel avenue when it veered across the road.

None of the truck’s windows were broken, its lights were still on and it was sitting upright in the north ditch, wedged in tight among the trees, Jones said.

Jones also said he doubted the man underneath the vehicle was the driver of the truck. “It would be pretty difficult to wind up in that position.”

The driver-side window was rolled down and police were trying to determine if the window have been rolled down by first responders. The man and the truck were left in place until later in the day.

The pickup was not reported stolen and police are trying to determine the identity of the man.

As police were investigating they came across a man, in his 30s, and woman sitting in a green Dodge minivan parked one kilometre west of the truck.

They were initially questioned as "witnesses" but the woman, in her 20s, was taken in custody on an undisclosed outstanding arrest warrant.

As police were driving the man home, he suffered what appeared to be a “medical incident” according to a police spokesman.

He was taken to hospital where he remained in critical condition. A police spokesman said he might be on life support.

It wasn't indicated what the couple were doing on the largely rural road used primarily by city workers, but police seized their van in addition to the pickup truck as part of their investigation.

Police were treating the death as "suspicious," stopping short of calling it a homicide investigation. Due to the proximity near the city's boundaries, the RCMP were advised.

The results of an autopsy held September 25th weren't released for purposes of the investigation.

Police identified the 58-year-old male victim, who was the owner of the truck, but were not releasing his name pending notification of next of kin.

If the man's death is ruled a homicide, it would be one of eight in September and the twenty-sixth of 2006.

The Edmonton Sun reported on the 25th that the man police described as a witness, who suffered a "medical incident" while being transported home, was recovering from a drug-related event.

"He's talking now and it looks like he's going to be OK," a spokesman told the Sun.

Police also revealed the woman taken into custody was arrested on prostitution-related charges.

On September 29th, 2006 homicide detectives judged the man's death to be non-criminal.

Police also said the two persons in the van were not involved in the man's death.

On October 2nd, 2006 police revealed the identity of the man found under the truck. 58-year-old Bernard Magnan died under what police continue to call "suspicious circumstances."

On October 4th the Edmonton Sun carried an interview with Gerry Magnan, Bernard's brother.

He was quoted as saying he doesn't believe his brother's death was an accident.

Gerry, 69, told the Sun that he thinks at least two people had a hand in Bernard's death. He also feels Canada should bring back the death penalty.

"It's a mystery. It's pretty hard to drive a vehicle and run over yourself. That don't make sense," Gerry added.

A St. Paul resident, Gerry said his younger brother was found face-up, with his head near the radiator and his feet near the exhaust.

Police haven't told him how Bernie died, but Gerry figured Bernard suffocated.

Gerry also didn't believe his brother was killed while trying to fix his truck. "He was no mechanic. I did most of his mechanics," he said.

Gerry said Bernard was single, had no children and lived in a trailer park in Sherwood Park.

His brother was semi-retired after working several years at an Edmonton packing plant.

The Sun also reported Bernard Magnan's age as being 60.

On October 22nd the Edmonton Sun followed up on the story interviewing Bernard Magnan's relatives in St. Paul.

“It’s suspicious no matter how you look at it,” May Magnan, Bernie's sister-in-law, said.

“I wish cops would get to the bottom of it. There had to be another person involved.”

“As far as I’m concerned, he died violently. He had cuts and scrapes on the back of his head,” added May.

The Last Link has learned the Magnan family has retained legal counsel in connection with the matter.

deadmonton 2006 - other police matters - body found pinned under truck