deadmonton 2007 - other police matters - booklover found dead again?

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Readers of the Edmonton Sun's August 31st, 2007 online edition were startled when a story appeared that seemed to indicate a man had died a second time at the same house.


The Last Link is still awaiting email response from the Sun to clarify the story, but what appears below was first published by the Last Link on the evening of August 31st based on the Sun's report.


The Sun did not re-print the story online on September 1st, nor did it appear in their home delivery edition of the same day. The story was also not reported by other media outlets.


To see the story online, follow this link: http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2007/08/31/4461807.html


In case the Sun's web site removes the story, screenshots can be seen here and here, and the printer friendly version, including URL, can be seen here.


The Last Link is aware of staff reductions at the local Quebecor outlet, but to recycle parts of old murder stories ...




Booklover Found Dead Again?


Police were reported to be investigating a suspicious death in an Alberta Avenue home.


Emergency personnel were called to a beige one-storey home at 11202 95A Street just before 7:00 a.m. on Friday, August 31st.


The body of a man, described in his mid-50s, was discovered by a roomate. Police said circumstances surrounding the death were "odd."


Homicide detectives arrived and decided to wait for the results of an autopsy to determine the course of their investigations.


Instead of a steady stream of forensic specialists trooping in and out of the home, for much of the day the only police presence was a single marked car.


The Edmonton Sun spoke to neighbours and what emerged was a story that eerily echoed another suspicious death in the same house six months before – with the newspaper using quotes and descriptions that were nearly identical.


In both stories, one filed March 20th and the other filed August 31st online, Elizabeth Barlow reported that

Next-door neighbour Vicki said a middle-aged man lived in the house. His 20-year-old cat died just before Christmas, she said.


“We knew each other to say hi and I was in the house once. All the walls in the living room were covered in bookshelves full of books.”


Stacks of books could be seen through a front window of the home.


An Australian flag hung in a corner window.


Another neighbour called the man an “odd duck” who kept to himself.


“He never cut his grass in the summer and it got about knee-high so we complained,” said the man, who didn’t want to be named. “He also let his mail pile up.”

The August 31st online Sun story added that

the man said the neighbourhood is fairly safe, despite prostitutes who often use it as a stroll.


A woman who lives across the street from the house said she saw a middle-aged couple go into the house around 10 a.m. Monday.


A group home for the disabled operates next door to the house where the man was found dead.


A source told Sun Media investigators are looking into the possibility that the man may have died accidentally on his own.

At the time of this Last Link entry, no other media outlets had reported the man's death. To contrast and compare the two stories, visit the March 20th, 2007 - man found tied up and dead page.