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Robert Wayne Joy, 48, was stabbed to death January 9th, 2007.

Joy was Edmonton's second homicide victim of the year.

Wesley David Lorne Cairn-Duff, 41, was charged with second-degree murder and possession of a dangerous weapon.

Just before 8:00 a.m. on January 9th, 2007 police were called in connection with a possible stabbing in a home located at 12035 64 Street in north-central Edmonton.

Upon arrival, officers found a man in his late 40s dead in the residence. Sources said he was stabbed in the back.

Two people were taken in for questioning by police, one described at the time as a possible suspect and the other a witness. One source identified the man pictured on the right as the owner of the home.

On January 10th, 2007 Edmonton police identified the victim as Robert Wayne Joy, 48, of Edmonton. They wouldn't say if he was an occupant or a visitor of the house.

Police also announced that second-degree murder and possession of a weapon charges were laid against 41-year-old Wesley David Lorne Cairn-Duff in connection with Joy's death.

An autopsy was scheduled for January 11th, 2007.

Cairn-Duff also made his first court appearance that day but unfortunately his lawyer didn't show up. The 41-year-old man was expected to enter a plea within a week.

Residents of the Montrose neighbourhood freely gave interviews to media and spoke of the house and its occupants that had become the focus of police attention.

Some area residents claimed those who lived there were involved in the drug trade.

"Nobody visits for more than 10 minutes at a time," said one nearby neighbour who didn't want to be named.

"Hookers even [visit]," she claimed. "I can tell a hooker. When they weigh 90 pounds wet, coming to get their fix, drugs, probably."

The house is two blocks north of Edmonton's 118th Avenue strip, notorious as an area used by sex-trade workers.

Leia Bru, who lived across the street from the house, told media of the morning that emergency services took over the street.

"I was sleeping and I heard like a siren and I woke up and I saw the cops cars and ambulances.

"That house seemed to have some issues like domestic disputes – like they were yelling and screaming at each other.

"One time I heard like a woman's voice screaming 'Help me, please someone help me' and we went outside and couldn't see anything.

"And then a few nights later we heard screaming again and it seemed to come from that house and that yard.

"In the summer they used to have really loud arguments late at night, but it's been pretty quiet for the last few weeks."

Bru said she wasn't sure who lived in the house.

"There was people moving in and out of it all the time because I've seen a lot of things going in and out like they were moving."

Chris Tapia, who lived next door, said he had concerns about the apparent drug activities in the house.

"I knew something's up in that house."

Asked if he noticed a lot of people visiting the residence Tapia said, "Yeah, in and out all the time, in the back, late at night and stuff like that."

Neighbours said they were unclear about how many people lived in the modest home and said the homeowner had been renting out several of its rooms.

Area resident Helen Kooyman said she knew a man who lived in the house for years and stated that he grew up in the house.

"He was a very nice guy. I hope this isn't him that's been hurt."

The death of Robert Joy was the second tragedy his family has dealt with in recent years.

On September 5th, 2001, Robert's 41-year-old brother Nick died after falling out of a moving van near Mayfield Road and 170th Street [earlier reports said it happened on Stony Plain Road].

No charges were ever laid in connection with Nick's death but the Joy family believed it was drug-related.

Wayne Joy, Robert and Nick's younger brother, spoke with various media outlets.

"And you kind of wonder, like ... what was going through his mind when he was fighting for the last few moments of his life?"

"What was going on? And somebody stabbed him to death ... nobody around to help him. What goes through a person's mind?"

"Brothers are supposed to be there for each other – and they're not there anymore."

"And it hurts really bad – you can't describe what the pain is like, you can't describe how it feels."

"It's just pain ... I wouldn't want anybody to go through what I'm going through."

Robert Joy had two children with a common-law wife he broke up with about eight years ago.

His son is now 18 years old, his daughter 17, and Joy kept in touch with them by phone.

"He loved them with a passion," Wayne said.

Joy had done landscaping and other labour jobs, including working in the oil patch. He had a table at the flea market at 118th Avenue and 66th Street for the last year, offering to rebuild computers and sell tools.

He suffered permanent injuries from two bike accidents a year apart, once being hit by a taxi and once by a half-ton truck, and wasn't able to work.

"He had titanium plates put into his head," Wayne said. "Doctors said any further head trauma would be fatal."

Joy had once been charged with assaulting a police officer but the charge was withdrawn in July 2006.

Joy's parents last saw their son at the flea market about two weeks ago prior to his death.

They told Wayne that Joy looked tired, with the hepatitis B he was suffering from showing its effects. His five-foot-two, 115-pound frame wasn't holding up well from the injuries.

"He was in really bad shape, with constant headaches," Wayne said. "He was a small, gentle man and couldn't have defended himself against anyone trying to stab him."

"Your grandma could beat him up."

Joy moved around a lot over the last two years, often staying with friends. Wayne had repeatedly warned his brother about the people he was hanging around with.

"My wife and I told him years ago he'd fallen in with the wrong crowd. I think he was killed over something to do with drugs," he said.

Joy's parents were devastated, but Wayne made a point of saying he forgave whoever was responsible for his brother's slaying.

"I'm without brothers now. The people who did this [Nick's death] and my brother Bob – I forgive them for it, I do. Because I can't hate."

Robert's death leaves Wayne with two sisters aged 45 and 49.

A memorial service for Robert Wayne Joy was to be held in Edson’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church on January 20th at 11:00 a.m.

The Edmonton Sun published an interview with Krista Cairn-Duff, the ex-wife of the man accused of Joy's murder.

The woman told the Sun her 13-year marriage "disintegrated" over Wesley's drug abuse.

She said she lived with Cairn-Duff until December 2005 with their four kids, now aged five to 13.

It was about that time he moved to the house where Robert Joy's body was found.

Krista said her ex-husband had been recently been e-mailing her. He claimed he wanted to escape the drug scene but was being threatened with violence if he did.

"I didn't know what to believe," Krista said, wanting proof her former husband was trying to change his ways.

Before the couple split they operated a cleaning company and lived in a house across the alley from the January 9th crime scene.

On September 9th, 2008 a six-man, six-woman jury trial began for the man accused of Robert Joy's murder with Court of Queen's Bench Justice Andrea Moen presiding.

In his opening statement, Crown prosecutor Wade Marke said that Joy and Wesley Cairn-Duff were roommates in January 2007, living with their landlord, Wayne Kuchera, in an Highlands area home.

On January 9th, Marke said Joy was agitated and had poked Kuchera in the back with a samurai sword. Still carrying the sword, Joy ran upstairs and challenged Cairn-Duff.

Cairn-Duff countered by grabbing a fish bonker and hitting Joy over the head with it.

Stepping in to stop the fight, the landlord took the sword and the bonker away from the men. Cairn-Duff left the room. Kuchera took Joy to the kitchern, sat him on a chair, and tended to the man's bleeding head.

Minutes later, after making several trips to the bathroom, the landlord found Joy staggering around, blood pouring from a stab wound to the back.

The prosecutor told the jury Cairn-Duff had a bloodstained filleting knife in his hand at the time and later admitted to stabbing Joy. Joy quickly died from blood loss and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Court heard that it was Cairn-Duff who called 911 and that he tried to revive the dying man.

The man was represented by defence lawyer Laura Stevens. The trial was expected to last about a week and a half.

As part of its case, the Crown introduced a videotaped interview police conducted with Cairn-Duff just hours after he was taken into custody.

Just minutes into the interview, Cairn-Duff was asked "Who stabbed him?"

"Me," the man said.

When asked why, Cairn-Duff said he and Joy were arguing over a hundred-dollar debt and that he also worried for his life.

Court heard testimony from landlord Wayne Kuchera who said he called 911 to say that Joy was lying on his back on the kitchen floor, bleeding from a stab wound.

Kuchera said he worked frantically to keep Joy alive but he couldn't save him.

The landlord detailed what happened prior to the stabbing.

"[Joy] tried to stab me with a sword," Kuchera said. "I punched him between the eyes."

Kuchera testified it was then Joy and Cairn-Duff fought like he's never seen men fight before.

On September 16th, 2008 closing arguments were heard in the trial with Cairn-Duff's lawyer making the case for self defence.

Lawyer Laura Stevens told the jury her client was defending himself against a "psychotic" man who was high on crystal meth and in an "uncontrolled rage."

"So what happened here?" Stevens asked the court. "The answer is meth. It was a bad trip, a bad reaction."

The defence lawyer said Cairn-Duff was a victim himself, arguing he intended no harm and was simply defending himself against Joy who had earlier attacked him with a Samurai sword.

Stevens said her client had no choice because he believed Joy was trying to kill him.

Court heard that toxicology tests indicated Joy had a very high level of crystal methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death.

Court also heard that Cairn-Duff tried to revive Joy for 19 minutes after the stabbing, demanding that he not die.

"Everything that happened was started by Bob Joy," Stevens said. "The only just verdict here is not guilty.

"If there was ever a case for self-defence, this is it."

However, Crown prosecutor Wade Marke told jurors to find Cairn-Duff guilty of second-degree murder and possession of a dangerous weapon.

Marke reminded the court that on the day of the alleged killing, an "upset" Joy had woken his landlord after making lots of noise and throwing around his computer.

After poking the landlord in the back with a Samurai sword, Joy ran upstairs and scuffled with Cairn-Duff with Joy being hit on the head with a fish bonker.

When the weapons ended up on the floor, the landlord took them away and separated the two men. Joy later charged Cairn-Duff again and he was stabbed once in the chest with a filleting knife.

When he took the stand in his own defence, Cairn-Duff said the attacks happened too fast and he wasn't trying to kill Joy.

"Were you trying to stab him in the back?" his defence lawyer asked.

"No. I thought he was trying to do me," Cairn-Duff answered.

The jury's deliberations began after they received legal instruction from Justice Andrea Moen.

Late on September 19th, after close to seven hours of deliberation, the six-man, six-woman jury found Welsey Lorne Cairn-Duff not guilty of the second-degree murder of Robert Joy.

Cairn-Duff showed little reaction as the verdict was read out, but he appeared relieved as he smiled and shook the hand of his lawyer, Laura Stevens.

deadmonton 2007 - robert wayne joy