Selamawit Negasi, 46, was found dead on July 5th, 2009.
Negasi was Edmonton's fifteenth homicide victim of the year.
Tesfai Negasi, 52, was charged with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body.
charges laid |
a couple remembered
unruly court appearance ... and details revealed
Crime scene tape surrounded a house in north Edmonton for more than a day after a man walked into downtown police headquarters and confessed to murdering his wife.
"He turned himself in here and said 'I killed my wife,' " Staff Sgt. Regan James said.
The man in his 50s made the claim at about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 5th, 2009.
Patrol officers were then dispatched to a two-storey home at 7328 164 Avenue and confirmed that the body of a woman in her 40s was inside (police later backed off on details of where the body was found).
The man was turned over to homicide detectives for questioning. As murder charges were anticipated, the man was held in custody.
Police sealed off the house to conduct their investigation, but forensic staff had yet to arrive by early Monday evening – almost 24 hours after the man's startling confession. No explanation was given by police.
Reports indicated the couple had three children, including three daughters thought to be under the age of ten.
It was first thought they were not home at the time of the suspected murder but police later said they were treating the children as witnesses. The daughters were turned over to the care of a 26-year-old sister.
Police told residents of the upscale Mayliewan neighbourhood in the Cherry Grove subdivision that they were investigating a case of domestic abuse and that the house was in disarray.
Homicide detective Dan Collins confirmed that the man's wife was the only apparent victim in the matter.
An autopsy was conducted during the afternoon of Monday, July 6th. No names were released by authorities but friends and family identified the woman as Selamawit Negasi, and the husband as Tesfai Negasi.
Neighbours said the couple, originally from Eritrea in Africa, had first moved in to the $500,000 home at the end of a cul-de-sac in 2006. One media wag was heard to say talking to the residents was like interviewing the United Nations – read more »
A next-door neighbour said she last saw the woman Sunday morning.
"I liked her. She was very nice. A quiet woman," Mafalda Cosentno said. "It's terrible. It makes me sick."
"I feel sorry for the kids at that age," her husband Salvatore said. "You think of the future for those girls. I don't think they will live with their father anymore ... that's the way I think."
No one interviewed reported hearing anything unusual at the house Sunday evening, or in the recent past.
"Police ask us if I see anything but I cannot tell you if I don't see you what happened in the house.
"When they say to my wife 'The neighbor missing ...' They don't say what happened.
"We never ever hear them fighting or whatever or anything, I cannot say anything if you don't see – that's it," Salvatore said.
Neighbour Khuong Pham said at least two daughters lived with the couple, but they also mentioned leaving an older daughter behind in Calgary. He too confirmed the quiet nature of their neighbours.
"We live around here and no noise before ... nothing happened before," Pham said, describing his neighbour as a friendly man.
"Everyday we are waving like that ... almost everyday. Because I work the night shift and I go outside to drink coffee and smoke and he go out to work – wave back and forth, just like this."
Pham witnessed what happened to the children soon after police first arrived.
"I think it's the police van that took them away," he said
It was believed the victim and her husband had spent three years in Italy before moving to Calgary and then Edmonton.
According to neighbours, the woman was often seen driving a minivan to pick up her youngest daughter from kindergarten. The husband was in his 50s and drove a gravel delivery truck.
Some greeted news of the death with mixed emotions.
"I just feel very scared because it's right at the back of my house and I feel very sad to be in this neighbourhood. They were very nice," back-fence neighbour Lily Do said.
A family friend was surprised by the turn of events and said the couple showed no signs of domestic violence – read more »
"I can't believe," Gebrehwat Nugusse said, fighting back tears.
"When we have a get-together we don't see any sadness ... we don't see any fight.
"Never in my life happen this ... I never see like this – never ever," Nugusse said.
"Tesfai was a nice guy. He was very close to them ... and I have another brother – he come close to him, he come close to us."
Later Monday, the head of the police homicide section addressed media and was cautious in his statements – read more »
"We've started this a little bit backwards," Staff Sgt. Lorne Pubantz said.
"We received information from a man who came to the police who had said that he had killed a person. In my 30 years of policing, it's extremely rare in cases of death.
"It's rather in the abstract and in the opposite of what we normally deal with where we get information and then look for a suspect. At this time we have a suspect and are looking to confirm information.
"I think the first thing is there's an automatic assumption the case is a slam dunk and it's anything but that. We deal on gathering facts, we deal on gathering evidence that we need to support what we do."
People have confessed to crimes they didn't commit before, Pubantz added.
"There's some hint that this is a domestic violence investigation. In fact, that's what we're basing the start of our investigation on.
"We're doing the footwork, gathering the facts. We're following our investigative protocol, and we'll deal with each piece of evidence as it comes along and assess it.
"If there's evidence to support criminal charges, if this is, in fact, a criminal death, then we'll deal with that."
Pubantz indicated that it was up to the medical examiner to determine whether the death was criminal and said the autopsy would be a "complicated" one. No details were offered.
It was also revealed family members were present at the scene, including children. They were now being treated as witnesses, according to Pubantz.
Police did confirm that the man in custody and the deceased were married.
Charges laid
On Tuesday, July 7th police announced that Tesfai Negasi, 52, had been charged with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body.
The victim was identified as 46-year-old Selamawit Negasi. Her cause of death was withheld by investigators but homicide section head Staff Sgt. Lorne Pubantz earlier said that her autopsy would be a "complicated" one.
It was later learned her body had been dismembered.
Negasi appeared in court the day the charges against him were announced.
Standing in the prisoner's box, dressed in Edmonton Remand Centre issued blue overalls, the balding skinny man only looked once around the courtroom searching for a familiar face as the proceedings were explained to him.
The Crown asked provincial court Judge Shelagh Creagh to put the case over for a month so a "substantial" amount of disclosure material could dealt with.
A duty counsel representing Negasi petitioned to have some time so the accused could hire a defence lawyer.
Judge Creagh put the matter over to August 4th, 2009 and she ordered Negasi to have no contact with three specific witnesses, believed to be his children.
Throughout the brief appearance, Negasi did not speak except to whisper to his duty counsel, choosing instead to keep his head bowed down and his arms crossed in front of him.
News of Tesfai Negasi's arrest spread quickly through Edmonton's tiny Eritrean community and it was all the talk at the man's favourite coffee shop in Little Italy – read more »
At La Dolce Vita Cafe and Bar, 10831 95 Street, friends were shocked and baffled at the tragedy that had befallen the couple.
Tesfai and Selamawit were born in Eritrea. After a short stay in Italy they immigrated to Canada about 25 years ago, first arriving in Calgary and later moving to Edmonton in 2006.
Tesfai spoke five languages, some said, and his gravel truck business was "very successful."
A man named Jim seemed to speak for the community when talking to media.
"He don't have financial problems, he don't have family problems ... this guy won't kill his wife ... no," he said.
"It's just a nightmare. I don't believe that he did it. He's not that kind of person. He's a nice person. He had a nice family. He loved his family."
Jim said Tesfai was close with many in the small circle that gathers at the cafe to play cards.
"We sit, have a coffee, chat and he's not harmful. He's not a drinker. I don't know what happened. Everybody's shocked."
When Tesfai came by the cafe for his daily visit – a day before he walked into police headquarters with his tale – nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"He is not a killer. This guy would never kill his wife. He's been a good friend of mine for a long time.
"I'm sure, 100%, it (happened) accidentally. I'm sure Tesfai never intended to kill his wife. He's a nice person," Jim said.
"But she's dead," another man interjected.
"I never saw him one time angry. He was always laughing," Abdurahman Ahmed said. "Some people, you expect them to do bad things. Some people you never expect from them."
"That's why it's very shocking news for us," another friend added. "It's a very sad day for us, for the whole community.
With regard to Tesfai's wife, the La Dolce Vita Cafe crowd could offer little about the rarely seen woman, describing her only as "nice and friendly."
A man who knew the couple was stunned.
"It's a mystery," Haile Tesfazgi said. "It is very shocking. They were a very good family."
"From the outside everything was so wonderful," he said. "That was my impression – that they were happy."
Some expressed concern for the couple's children, now being treated as witnesses. A note on the window of the cafe asked for donations.
"They're in good hands," homicide section head Staff Sgt. Lorne Pubantz said.
Unruly court appearance
On August 4th, 2009 Tesfai Negasi made an appearance in an Edmonton courtroom.
Not only did the man accused of killing his wife face a judge, he also faced dozens of his wife's friends and family – including his own children – wearing white T-shirts emblazoned with her photo.
As soon as Negasi made his way into the prisoner box, the normally sombre courtroom scene was interrupted by what one reporter called a "blood-curdling scream."
"You killed my mom you fucking piece of shit," Elen Negasi shouted, nearly drowned out by others in the gallery sharing the same emotions.
Negasi's daughter was escorted out of the courtroom by two sheriffs. Negasi was led back to Remand Centre cells.
His next court appearance was set for September 15th, 2009 for election and plea.
Outside court, Elen Negasi revealed to reporters what was behind behind her outburst – read more »
After sitting in the courtroom for two hours before the matter came up on the docket, Elen said she was overcome by events, causing one reporter to relate it was one of the most emotional things they had ever seen in court.
Wearing a T-shirt with Selamawit's photo and the words, "In loving memory of our beloved mother, sister, angel," Elen Negasi described her loss to media.
"Our mother was everything to us. She was our angel and now she is truly our angel.
"She had four daughters that support her very much, and we miss her so much."
Elen spoke of facing her father.
"It took a lot of strength ... and I know my mom was with us in that [courtroom] and we all stood there in support of my mom."
Elen said her mother was a cancer survivor and the mother of four daughters – the youngest just six years old.
"She misses my mom a lot. All we can say is she is in heaven.
"My mom was strong. She was a fighter in everything she did. She survived breast cancer."
The 26-year-old said she would attend every upcoming court appearance.
"She is not dead. She is alive in spirit," Elen said. "I will fight day and night to make sure she's still remembered."
The T-shirts worn bore the surname Bereket, Selamawit's maiden name.
"She was my rock. She was everything to me. She was a hardworking, loving mother.
"She worked day and night for her kids to put us through school. All of us pursued university education – it was because of her," Elen said.
She held back from commenting on what may have led to her mother's murder, instead vowing to set up a trust fund to "shed more light" on domestic violence issues.
Homicide Det. Dan Jones said the police investigation was still ongoing.
"It's a disturbing file ... all spousal violence files are disturbing – all murders are disturbing," Jones said.
"This one has specific disturbing issues around it."
Ultimately, it was media who shed more light on Selamawit's death, reporting details from search warrant documents they obtained.
Sometime on July 5th, 2009 police received a phone call from the Negasi home. Three children there reported not being able to find their parents and they thought something suspicious had happened.
When police arrived, they found the sheets were missing from from an upstairs bedroom and it appeared someone had tried to clean up a "large mess."
A half-hour later, police received a cellphone call from Negasi. He was standing outside downtown headquarters and told them he had killed his wife.
When police asked him where his wife's body was, he told them it was in the trunk of his car which he had parked out front.
After pointing out his vehicle, Negasi handed over the keys, the trunk was opened and an officer saw "a dismembered body with body parts wrapped in possible plastic."
Statements made in the search warrants do not form part of any possible trial, but do indicate expected testimony from investigating officers.
All the information presented on this page has been compiled primarily from published media reports and should not be interpreted as having legal bearing or other prejudice against the individuals named on this web site.
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