deadmonton 2006 - other police matters - suspicious downtown death
At first police thought they were investigating Edmonton's 29th homicide of 2006.
At about 7:19 a.m. on October 17th, 2006 an apartment building caretaker taking out garbage called paramedics after noticing an unconscious man lying between two dumpsters in the alley behind Ravine Mansion at 11618 100 Avenue.
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When emergency medical staff arrived they noticed the man had head injuries and called police.
An apartment resident said police told his girlfriend a man had been "knifed" and they didn't know whether he was going to make it.
The man, who appeared to be in his late 40s, was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
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Homicide detectives were called in and a large area was taped off. A half-empty shopping cart was seen nearby. Officers conducted a door-to-door search for witnesses.
"There are several apartment buildings, all of which have good vantage points," said a police spokesman. "[There are] a lot of buildings, a lot of apartments to canvass."
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One neighbour told Global Edmonton she didn't hear anything, saying it was so quiet the night before the discovery of the body she didn't even hear the local bar.
As the cause of the man's injuries was unknown, police were treating the death as suspicious, thoroughly processing the scene in case his death was the result of homicide.
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A blood trail led from the rear of the building to an area behind the dumpsters.
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Building resident Sam Frolich described to CTV Edmonton what greeted him early in the morning.
"All I saw was a pair of legs and one shoe off and that's it."
"Guys they sleep there all the time and I don't like messing with them because you never know whom you bump into."
Frolich said he sees many men trooping through the alley with shopping carts.
CTV's reporter also spoke to one group who seemed to know something about what happened.
"They were screaming yelling at him last night."
"And he was intoxicated and he started yelling screaming back at them. So then they just followed him."
The Edmonton Sun interviewed Brian, a homeless man, who claimed the dead man was his friend Edward.
Brian said he was in an alley just north of where Edward was found around 1:30 a.m. when he saw a fight break out between four people.
Brian believed Edward was chased down the alley toward Ravine Mansion by two "kids."
"We have no indication of whether [the victim] was a street person or homeless," the police spokesman added.
An autopsy completed on October 19th, 2006 deemed the man's death as non-criminal in nature.
Police said the man was a resident of a nearby apartment building. His name was not released at the request of his family.