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Deang Huon, 40, was found dead July 30th, 2008.

Huon was Edmonton's sixteenth homicide victim of the year.

The woman's husband, 49-year-old Narin Sok, was charged with second-degree murder.

Police continue to investigate Edmonton's sixteenth homicide of 2008 after a suspicious death was ruled a murder.

Homicide detectives were first called to a downtown apartment block at 10955 106 Street around 5:00 p.m. July 30th, 2008 after a woman's body was found in a bedroom.

Relatives had become concerned when they couldn't contact the woman and they asked a property manager working in the building to open the door to the suite.

However, the door was blocked and police were brought in. Members of a provincial Mental Health Crisis Team were also reported to be involved.

"When our members arrived they entered the suite and found a male who appeared a little delusional," veteran homdicide Det. Bill Clark told media.

"At that time they took that male into custody and they found a female who is deceased inside a bedroom in the residence.

"A male had been acting a little strange. He wasn't acting rational. I'm mean, we aren't doctors by any means, but he didn't appear to be in a proper state of mind."

So far police have only termed the woman's death as suspicious. She was thought to be 40 years old and the wife of the man detained. Both were Cambodian.

The man was taken in for questioning while police sought an interpreter.

“Of course we’re having some language problems that we’re dealing with too,” Clark said. “We are checking with the RCMP and other agencies right now to see what we can find."

“At this time we do not know the cause of death,” Clark said.

“Homicide detectives are treating it as suspicious. Until we know the cause of death we won’t be able to say if it’s a homicide or not.”

It wasn't immediately known how long the woman had been dead.

Once police had finished interviewing neighbours, media did their own detective work.

A family friend told the Edmonton Journal the couple in the apartment had been in Canada for nearly 20 years.

The man, in his late 30s or early 40s, worked as a general labourer at General Scrapmetal. The deceased woman cleaned various downtown apartments.

"We are shocked," Man You said. "He's a very nice person. When he has trouble, he just walks away."

The property manager who first tried to get into the suite, Allan Thompson, said he only knew the woman to say 'Hi,' saying she didn't speak much English. He identified the man as Narin Sok, but could not recall the woman's name.

Thompson described the couple as quiet and hard-working but they seemed to be in financial difficulty. Sok told him his wife was sick and that their car required repairs they couldn't afford.

The couple had been living in the Kent Apartments for eight years. "There was never any drinking, never partying, nothing happened," Thompson said.

"I know Narin really well," he said. "I'm befuddled and mystified. There was nothing of a violent nature. I'm stunned."

The property manager recounted the events of the day.

The woman's nieces had come by earlier and were told by a neighbour their aunt was probably out shopping.

He was renovating a unit next door to the crime scene when the women returned with police. Thompson tried to unlock the suite.

"I opened the door, but there was something barricading it," Thompson said. Police then entered with force, encountered the man and discovered the body.

Thompson said about half his tenants are Cambodians who immigrated at about the same time. They are like a family, and everyone is upset and shocked but more confused than scared, he said.

"The tenants have been phoning me and the people who know Sok are mystified. They're not worried," Thompson explained to the Edmonton Sun.

"My reaction is ... concern for Narin, sorrow for what's happened to (his wife) and worry about what the tenants are going to think."

On August 1st police made known that autopsy results confirmed the death as a homicide.

40-year-old Deang Huon was identified as the victim but her cause of death was not released for investigative purposes.

On August 2nd the woman's husband, 49-year-old Narin Sok, was charged with second-degree murder.

Sok made his first court appearance on August 8th, 2008 in a wheelchair.

With his head rolling from side to side and occasionally gazing at ceiling in a fixed stare, the 49-year-old frustrated the court process due to what doctors are guessing is an undiagnosed mental condition.

“We have someone here who isn't cognizant in any fashion,” provincial court Judge Ernie Walter said after hearing Sok had not spoken to doctors, police or even a defence lawyer assigned to him.

Crown prosecutor Robert Fata suggested that Sok be placed in custody at Alberta Hospital for a 30-day psychiatric examination.

Walter refused, saying Sok did not consent to the order.

The defence lawyer assigned told the court the accused was “incoherent and not in any position to give meaningful legal instructions.”

In order to provide a frame of reference for the judge, Fata detailed what police saw when they gained entry to the couple's suite to check on Huon's welfare.

A stack of four bags of rice were barricaded against the door and a large portion of the apartment was covered with plastic sheets.

In addition to “acting a little delusional,” officers noted Sok had some blood on him. They located his wife when they saw part of her leg sticking out from under a plastic sheet in the bedroom.

While Huon's cause of death had not been officially released, the Crown prosecutor said an autopsy revealed she had been strangled and that there were cuts found on her body.

Fata said Huon's niece had earlier spoken to Sok by phone, asking to speak with the woman. Sok said his wife “was sleeping.” The niece chose not believe Sok and called police.

Huon's family said Deang had told them she felt safe with her husband despite their warnings of his recent unusual behaviour, and she also ignored their pleas to call the mental health crisis line.

Judge Walter ordered the matter back into court on August 14th, 2008 with a view to dispensing with the psychiatric examination issue and to possibly to move the case into a domestic violence courtroom.

Sok remained in custody under observation at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

On August 14th, 2008 Narin Sok appeared in court – this time with a Cambodian interpreter by his side.

The arrangement allowed defence lawyer Peter Royal to speak to his client – and it allowed provincial court Judge Ernie Walter to send Sok for a 30-day psychiatric assessment at the Alberta Hospital.

Judge Walter also received word from doctors at the Royal Alexandria that Sok wasn't feigning a mental illness, prompting the more thorough examination.

Sok was expected back in court on September 15th, 2008.

deadmonton 2008 - deang huon