deadmonton 2007 - david kelm
David Kelm, 21, was found dead on January 19th, 2007.
James Harold Stewart, 28, was charged with first-degree murder.
“It’s never very often you wake up to find a dead body in the intersection,” an area resident told the Edmonton Sun.
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“It looks like he fell down face first and that’s where he stayed,” said Len Weir.
At about 7:30 a.m. on January 19th, 2007 Strathcona County RCMP responded to a 911 call of a body lying on the side of the road near the intersection of Lake Vista Drive and Lake Vista Crescent in the Lakeland Village Trailer Park.
Strathcona County Emergency Services attended and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
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At first the RCMP treated the man's death as suspicious
The body was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office where an autopsy indicated the "clear cause of death” was the result of homicide, according to a police spokesman.
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The cause and manner of death was not released for reasons related to the investigation.
The victim was found lying face down near the northwest corner of the intersection with "no visible signs of trauma – not even blood," according to the spokesman.
Police weren't sure if the man was killed near Sherwood Park or if his body was dumped there, but said “the scene was quite clean.”
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Later in the day, RCMP identified the man as being 21-year-old David Kelm and issued his picture in hopes it would generate tips in the case.
Kelm was wearing a grey hoodie style shirt, jeans, and white running shoes. A folded pocket knife found next to his body was being treated as evidence.
Kelm was the stepson of Edmonton city police Const. Karsten Kelm.
“This is Strathcona County’s first homicide of the year. Hopefully it’s our last,” the spokesman said.
The County had one homicide in 2006, that of Carmen Carmichael. Patrick Dale Carmichael pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his brother who was killed during a drinking party on March 7th.
Strathcona County RCMP and the RCMP Forensic Identification, Major Crimes and Integrated Gang Units continue to investigate Kelm's murder. Twenty-five officers are involved.
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They were awaiting toxicology test results to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved, and were checking the victim's past to determine if the incident may be gang-related.
RCMP are seeking witnesses and are requesting anyone who has information to contact them at 780-467-7741 or to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
From early witness statements, RCMP estimate Kelm's body appeared on the road between 6:45 and 7:30 a.m.
“It looked like somebody dumped him there,” Lorrie Harper told the Sun.
Candace Buchanan, who lived just metres from where the man was found, said: “I don’t recall him being in this area.”
Buchanan described the body as “sort of twisted" with one of the arms up near the face and the legs crossed behind at the ankles.
She said the body was "In our own front yard, pretty much. It's disturbing in a way."
Betty Andronyk told the Edmonton Journal she was at home at 7:15 a.m.
"I was standing there doing dishes and I just heard: Bang!" she said. "I thought it was a car backfiring. It was so loud, even with the TVs on I could hear it, plain as day.
"I didn't realise what had happened until I walked the kids to the buses and saw the police cars."
Jolita Sparks, the woman who found the body, told the Journal she didn't recognise the man.
"I've been on edge all day. I've lived here for 10 years and for the most part it's not bad," Sparks said.
"We do know there are a lot of drugs in the park and chances are there are probably gangs."
On January 24th, 2007 Strathcona RCMP announced they had charged a 28-year-old Edmonton man with first-degree murder in connection with Kelm's death.
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An Alberta-wide warrant was issued for James Harold Stewart. RCMP said they considered him armed and dangerous and advised the public he was not to be approached.
Stewart was described as a white male, approximately 6-feet 2-inches tall, 230 lbs wit a heavy build, brown hair and eyes. He was last seen with a shaved head and thick goatee.
Stewart goes by the street name "Fucker" and has numerous tatoos on his arms, torso and neck. There is a distinct picture of a bird on the left side of his neck and a skull on the back of his neck.
It was also revealed that Stewart and David Kelm were known to Strathcona County RCMP and several other police agencies in the area.
RCMP said they believed Stewart may be in the Grande Prairie region.
A spokesman would not say whether Kelm and Stewart knew each other.
Although the gang unit was involved in the ongoing investigation, the spokesman would not say whether Kelm’s death was considered a gang killing.
On January 29th, 2007 David Kelm was laid to rest.
Several Edmonton city police officers were among dozens of mourners who attended Kelm's funeral.
Groups of young men and women, some crying, walked in and out of Zion Baptist Community Church at 9802 76 Avenue several times during the ceremony. Mourners would not speak to the media.
Several police vehicles escorted the funeral parade to Sherwood Park. The complementary service is available to all civilians, an Edmonton police spokesman explained.
Strathcona County RCMP said they continue to follow up on reports of James Harold Stewart being sighted.
Asked about the status of the investigation the spokesman said, "I can't be any more specific than that given the investigation. Nor can I comment on speculation (Kelm's) body was dumped in the trailer park."
On February 2nd, 2007 RCMP announced that the arrest warrant for James Harold Stewart was extended nationwide.
On February 8th, 2007 RCMP announced an arrest in the Kelm matter.
James Harold Stewart was apprehended without incident at about 1:30 p.m. at a hotel in Penticton, British Columbia.
Stewart was transported back to Sherwood Park on February 10th and was scheduled to appear in Sherwood Park Provincial Court on February 14th, 2007.
The Lakeland Village Trailer Park is owned by Stephen Mandel, the mayor of Edmonton.
Mandel has owned the mobile home community of 1,500 to 2,000 residents for more than twenty years.
He heard of Kelm being found on the property by management staff at the site, and said the death on his land brought the problem of street crime "even closer to home."
"It highlights how such violent, tragic events touch everyone. My condolences go out to [Kelm's] family. I was shocked and dismayed when I found out about it," Mandel told the Edmonton Sun.
"We've had some issues with safety on and off at Lakeland, but never anything this serious."
Mandel said the level of crime on his property was "no different than you'd expect in any other community of the same size," adding the community does not employ a private security firm.
"Like anywhere else in the county, it's protected by RCMP."
Mandel said Kelm's death only reinforced his commitment to address the causes of crime.
"We have to be more effective in dealing with the societal causes that lead people to commit such acts. I feel great despair. It's senseless for anyone, especially a man so young, to lose their life to violence."
The Sun also spoke to retired University of Alberta criminologist Keith Spencer about how innocent civilians – even at the highest level of civic office – can be impacted by violent crime.
Spencer said the fact Kelm's body was found on the mayor's land "shows the accidental nature of how crime affects everyone."
"At first glance it just seems bizarre: a policeman's son found dead on the mayor's property. You might wonder if there's more to it than a simple accident."
But it's unlikely the killer – or killers – knew that Mandel owned the Lakeland property, Spencer told the Sun.
"This is a classic example of how totally innocent people get connected to these events," he said, adding it shows just how random violent crime can be.
On January 22nd, 2007 the Edmonton Sun reported that David Kelm spent the last weeks of his life trying to make amends for past mistakes.
Details of the article were based on interviews with some of Kelm's friends.
The 21-year-old murder victim, nicknamed "Leb" for his Lebanese roots, was released from jail in December 2006 after serving several months for charges stemming from a stolen car.
The Sun said Kelm passed a lot of recent time hooking up with old friends.
"He'd been trying to redeem himself and fix all the things he'd done in the past," said Kelm's roommate T.J., who declined to provide the Sun with his last name. "He was trying to change."
T.J. said goodbye to his friend at 6:15 a.m. January 19th, about an hour before his body was found. T.J. said the two of them had been hanging out at a friend's house the night before.
"We were just chilling," said T.J. "He said he'd be back in a couple of hours but he never showed up. The phone's been ringing off the hook. Questions, questions and more questions that I can't answer."
Friends say Kelm wasn't the type who would have joined a gang, and he sported a tattoo that read 'IWA,' – 'I walk alone.'
"He's not the type to be involved in something like that," said friend Lloyd Baird. "I don't even understand what he was doing out there."
"Honestly, he never had no enemies. Everyone that met him enjoyed being around him. He will be sadly missed," Baird told the Sun.
Zak Cunningham said that despite having made some mistakes, Kelm had a lot to look forward to.
"Everyone screws up in their past, but things seem to have been going really well for him. [He was] just a good guy with good intentions."
Longtime friend Robyn Hastings said Kelm was well loved by everyone, and called David "an original."
"He didn't deserve to die," she said.
In a follow-up story printed the next day, the Sun quoted a source who told them Kelm was killed over a drug debt.