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Robert Michael Brodyk, 56, was beaten to death October 31st, 2007.

Brodyk was Edmonton's twenty-sixth homicide victim of the year.

Case status is open and active.

Family looking in on a man led to homicide detectives being called out to check on a suspicious death in a home at 14408 65 Street.

After not hearing from the 56-year-old for a few days, family asked his landlord to check on his welfare. The landlord and the man's brother-in-law then found him lying in a pool of blood just inside the front door and called paramedics at about 6:30 p.m. November 1st, 2007.

When emergency service personnel arrived they quickly realised the matter was such that police should be summoned. Patrol officers were soon joined by homicide detectives and forensic technicians.

Duty Insp. Terry Rocchio told media there was no sign of forced entry but he had very little other information to offer.

"There appeared to be some suspicious circumstances so we secured the scene and called out our homicide team just to make sure," Rocchio said.

Staff from the medical examiner's office removed the body to their waiting van parked in the alley. The house in the McLeod neighbourhood remained under wraps for much of the next day as police scoured the house for clues to the mystery of the man's death.

The media took its turn searching for clues and spoke to neighbours who described the occupant of the house, a man named "Bob," as quiet and polite. Bob lived alone and worked at the nearby Londonderry Mall Save On Foods outlet.

Neighbours also said Bob rarely had visitors and had been renting the home for six or seven years. As a tenant, Bob wasn't greatly interested in spending much time maintaining the home, cutting his lawn or shovelling the snow, one area resident said.

"It's just kind of freaky when this goes on next door," Lynn Cox told reporters. "It's creepy. This is a really quiet neighbourhood usually. We've had our history and our past with drug houses and all that like every neighbourhood does. It's a quiet neighbourhood and this does not happen usually here."

"He never closed his drapes and they were closed this morning," Randy Bowen told media. The man always kept one light on in the house, regardless of the time of day.

"And the lights were off," Bowen said, "and for him that's very unusual."

"But being a neighbour, you don't want to go over there and knock on the door just because his drapes are closed or something like that."

Another neighbour said her barking dogs woke her up at about around 3 a.m. the morning the body was discovered, something she said was unusual.

Global Edmonton spoke to Joaquim Marciano, who with his wife kept a sharp eye on the neighbourhood.

"Yesterday, one o'clock, I seen him pass by, me and my wife – my wife in the wheelchair right in the window all the time – and we see him pass by one o'clock. We never see him come back."

Police released a description of a missing truck that belonged to the deceased man.

The truck was a two-tone light blue and white 1987 Ford F-150 with a matching light blue canopy on the back, similar to ones pictured in supplied photographs. The rear window of the canopy was broken and the truck bore Alberta licence plate LMP 529.

"One aspect that leads investigators to believe that this is very suspicious is that the individual's truck is missing, so we are appealing to the public to help us track that truck down," a police spokesman stated.

Brian Cox said he last saw Bob on Halloween night when they both arrived home around 5:30 p.m. By the time Cox left for work the next morning, the truck was gone.

"His truck is very distinctive," Cox said, describing the twenty-year-old vehicle with rusty rims. "And it barely even runs. The person who took it couldn't get too far."

Randy Bowen said Bob's truck had been stolen – and recovered – the year before, as was his own pickup.

“But that's the only problem we've had in the eight or nine years we've lived here," he said.

Bob had an older Camaro car parked in the garage behind the house but seemed to rarely drive it, favouring the pickup as his daily commute beater.

Late November 2nd, 2007 police confirmed the man's death as a homicide.

Robert Michael Brodyk, 56, died from blunt force trauma. Police said they didn't know how Brodyk was killed and refrained from describing conditions inside the house or if anything was stolen. Authorities indicated Brodyk died Halloween night.

Also late November 2nd, police acting on tips located Brodyk's truck – parked in a lot behind the Co-op Gas Bar at 82 Street and 127 Avenue next to a Canada Post distribution centre.

Police kept the truck under surveillance in hopes someone would return to it – no one did. A check of security tapes at neighbouring businesses such as E & L Lighting revealed nothing about the arrival of the truck on the lot. By the next morning, news of the find was released to the media.

Police Sgt. Guy Kinney said the truck was in good condition and showed no signs of fresh damage.

The truck was towed away to a police garage where forensic technicians would pour over it.

Lead homicide investigator Det. Dave Morrissey brought reporters up to date.

"The person or persons responsible for this were likely driving or had possession of this vehicle for maybe a twenty-four hour period."

"We are interested in anyone who has seen this vehicle from Halloween evening until probably November 1st at about eight in the evening."

"He had no enemies that we know of ... he was friendly with everyone," Morrissey said of Brodyk. "A person that leads his type of lifestyle doesn't usually involve us so it is very baffling and it's disturbing."

"This could have been a B&E interrupted," Morrissey continued. "This was on Halloween night and he may have opened the door for someone."

"Our investigation to date has not led us to any reasons why this has happened," Morrissey added. "He was a nice guy and didn't deserve anything like this. He was a family man. He was in touch with family pretty much daily."

"There's absolutely nothing in his background or his lifestyle that tells us why something like this happened."

Police believe Brodyk left home on October 31st at 4:30 p.m. and visited the Londonderry Save On Foods store to pick up some Halloween candy. He left around 5 p.m. and returned home half an hour later when he was spotted by Randy Bowen. It was the last time Brodyk was seen alive.

On November 6th, 2007 police released additional details of the movements of the truck and asked the public for help in locating a baseball bat allegedly stolen from the home of Robert Brodyk.

The truck had been parked at a church parking lot near 130th Avenue and 81st Street on November 1st, prior to being discovered by police at 82nd Street and 127th Avenue.

Police also revealed they were looking for a wooden baseball bat much like the one pictured below.

While the image is of a Louisville Slugger, Grand Slam youth model, the bat homicide detectives were interested in was described as "similar," with red tape around the handle and an oval logo along the side. Investigators believe the bat may have been used during the assault on Brodyk.

The bat as described was probably twenty years old. Louisville discontinued manufacturing wooden bats in its youth line two decades ago in favour of metal alloy models. The bat likely once belonged to Bob's son Aaron.

Those with information about the truck's movements, the baseball bat or recent activities at Brodyk's house are asked to contact Edmonton police at 423-4567, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.tipsubmit.com - a secure tip submission web site.

Robert Brodyk was divorced and had three children – two adult daughters, Lindsey and Elizabeth, and a son Aaron who died in 1984. Also surviving was his wife Colleen, his 81-year-old mother Laura, a sister named Shirley Strikwerda and a large extended family. His father Nick passed away in 1990.

"Nobody knows what happened," said longtime Brodyk family friend Lorraine Gray. "I was shocked and his family is in shock ... He kept to himself."

In the first few days following Robert Brodyk's death, the man's family stayed out of the media spotlight. Jeannette Brodyk, who was married to a cousin of Robert's, last saw him at her husband's funeral several years ago. She said he came from a close family.

"He was a very soft person, a very caring person," said Jeannette. "He was very concerned with his mother."

Slowly, Brodyk's family made themselves available to media. Robynn Evans, Bob's niece, appealed to the public through CTV Edmonton's cameras.

"If you know anything or have seen anything bizarre or something that makes you go 'Hmmm that's strange' please call anyone, anything."

"Probably the hardest part of all this is not understanding and knowing ... and wishing that they'd give us details or they'd find the people who did it," Evans said.

Jay Strikwerda, Brodyk's nephew, shared his reaction to the news of his uncle's death.

"When I found out how it happened I just ... I didn't know what to say. I was shocked. We're all shocked."

"We don't know how anyone could have done this because my uncle had no enemies," Jay offered.

"Uncle Bob was a hardworking, well-liked man who was loved by his family. We're in shock as to why this could have happened and we are all struggling as a family."

Friends and relatives described the much-loved father as a man who enjoyed life, art and music. Bob was known for dancing up a storm at family weddings and keeping everyone in stitches with a seemingly endless stream of jokes.

"We would go over to his house for a football game and have a few beers, and he would pull that old accordion out and play," said Jay. "Not that he was any good at it."

He said his uncle loved country music and also played the harmonica. He was separated from his wife, but the two remained good friends, Strikwerda said.

"Uncle Bob wouldn't have an enemy in the world. He was a good guy. He was truly loved by his family, by his friends, by the people he worked with."

Global Edmonton spoke to Shirley and John Strikwerda, Bob's sister and brother-in-law.

"Bob was a big part of our family and he's going to be very very missed by all who knew him. We're still reeling from the tragedy of it all ... a senseless death," Shirley said.

The woman told Global she spoke to her only brother the day before his body was discovered. She said Bob had gone to Save On Foods to buy some Halloween candy.

"It was within the first twenty-four hours that he didn't respond to any phone calls ... we went searching and found that he was dead in his home."

"The landlord and I went in and we found him in pretty bad shape," John said. "Just nothing you would ever want to wish upon anybody, not on anybody."

"We're just as baffled as the police. I mean, here's a guy who wouldn't hurt anybody, you know. Just minds his own business. He lived alone but minded his own business ... friendly ..."

"Could somebody have followed him in when he returned from the store," Shirley wondered. "We don't know. Was there somebody ... was it a break-in in progress and he startled the person in the home ... we're trying to come up with all sorts of reasons."

"I would ask that person how they could do something so violent to somebody else. And at some point they're going to have to answer for that."

It was said Bob had an active interest in art and and spent much of his spare time painting. In addition, he was an avid pool player and sports fan.

A published obituary hinted at Brodyk's experience working in an industry involved in a labour dispute that forced him to seek employment in new occupations. He most recently worked in retail food, as a grocery clerk at the Save On Foods outlet in Londonderry Mall.

Manager Mark Thorrougood and most store employees declined to comment on Brodyk's death. One woman admitted that the staff was shaken up.

"It's just surreal,” she said. “You can't imagine who or what or why."

An assistant manager said Bob was known as a hard-working and dependable employee.

"He was a fantastic employee and we are all in shock about this, especially when I heard about it on the news," he said.

Randy Bowen reflected on the times he spoke with his neighbour.

"It's a sad thing,” Bowen said. "He was just kind of a nice, hard-working middle-class schmuck like me."

A service for Robert Brodyk was held at Memories Funeral Home, 13403 St. Albert Trail, on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007. Over 350 people attended.

Interment followed at the Holy Cross Cemetery.

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