Jonathan Blaine Nepoose, 29, was stabbed to death on December 14th, 2009.
Nepoose was Edmonton's twenty-seventh homicide victim of the year.
Shawn Alex Livingstone, 32, was charged with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon.
Emergency services were called to a home at 9644 105A Avenue around 12:15 a.m. December 14th, 2009 after a 911 call reported a man had been stabbed.
Upon arrival police found a man "covered in blood." Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Early on, investigators had to figure out whether the stabbing took place outside the residence or inside where an overnight drinking party seemed to be taking place.
Police questioned several people found inside the building and took an adult male, initially described as a person of interest, into custody.
Later in the day, police announced they had charged 32-year-old Shawn Alex Livingstone with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon. He was to make his first court appearance the next day.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it wouldn't be Livingstone's first appearance in an Edmonton courtroom – read more »
In January 2001, Shawn Alex Livingstone – then 23 – was charged with break and enter to commit robbery, unlawful confinement, possession of stolen property under $5,000 and over $5,000 and mischief.
Livingstone, along with two other men and a young offender, were charged after a home invasion near 97th Street and 120th Avenue.
A 46-year-old man was beaten with fists and boots when his attackers demanded $3,000 for a drug debt. After saying they got the wrong house, the man was thrown into his basement where he was tied up and pinned under a router table and band saw.
The men ransacked the place for over an hour. Neighbours called police after seeing a bunch of strange men loading up electronic items into the man's 1998 Chevy 4X4.
Forensic staff remained at the rooming house for most of the day, processing the scene.
The man's body was removed late in the afternoon. An autopsy was scheduled for the next day.
Residents near the Chinatown home say the location has been frequently visited by police. One tenant said "all hell broke loose" shortly before the stabbing – read more »
Colin Sanders told media several people he didn't recognise started partying around 5 p.m. across the hall from his suite. He said there was "a lot of booze."
Sanders went out for a while and returned at about 10:30 when he heard people shouting and saw women storming out.
Then things got out of hand and "all hell broke loose," he said.
"A fight broke out in the hallway, around 11 p.m. between two guys, one allegedly threatening the other.
"I heard a bunch of people banging, people fighting, then a male voice say: 'I've got to get out of here.'
"One guy started yelling: 'Johnny!' I didn't open my door, I tell you."
Sanders had kept his door closed. The shouting came from the building's shared kitchen down the hall.
"I didn't ever come out of my suite," he said. "When you hear 10 people running around, I'm not coming out."
He heard someone ask if any of the women were hurt, but there was no response.
Then Sanders heard "put your hand here." That told him there had been a stabbing, with efforts made to cover the wound.
Sanders only came out of his room when EMS showed up shortly after midnight. The kitchen was blocked off as paramedics worked on the man.
Sanders said they told everybody to get back. One person asked if he was dead.
"The paramedic said: 'Get the hell out of the way or he will be.' "
Sanders said the suite police attended housed the only young person in the building – which was later revealed to be Shawn Livingstone, the man charged.
"I might have seen him five or six times," he said.
Sanders thought he had done a pretty good job checking out the building before moving in in late November, even visiting the place at night to see how quiet it was.
Most of the tenants were older folks who kept to themselves.
"One old-timer in the front is not opening up for cops," Sanders said. "He's pretty freaked."
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On December 15th, 2009 results of an autopsy indicated 29-year-old Jonathan Blaine Nepoose died of a stab wound.
Nepoose was well-known to Edmonton police. On August 25th, 2006 they advised the public of his release from the Edmonton Institution.
Nepoose had served an aggregate sentence of two years, four months and 15 days for evading police, possession of stolen property, possession of a prohibited weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, and operating a motor vehicle with blood alcohol exceeding .08.
Police considered Nepoose to be a violent offender whose criminal history, which included violent assaults, made him a risk of significant harm to the community.
Nevertheless, and perhaps not suprisingly, Nepoose was said to be turning his life around before he was stabbed – read more »
In April 2008, 23-month-old Asia Saddleback was wounded in the abdomen by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting on the Samson Cree First Nation, about 80 kilometres south of Edmonton. Two teenage boys, aged 15 and 18, and Christopher Shane Crane, 18, were charged.
Crane, an admitted member of the Alberta Warriors gang, later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, robbery with a firearm, knowingly possessing an unauthorized firearm and use of a firearm in connection with Saddleback's shooting.
Court heard that Crane was trying to settle a score with the Samson True Soldiers, a rival gang.
Saddleback made a full recovery, save for the bullet that remains lodged near her stomach which doctors said would be too dangerous to remove.
At the time, RCMP said as many as 13 gangs with around 250 members were involved in the illegal drug trade on four reserves in the Hobbema area, and that Saddleback's shooting was just part of "business as usual."
Community leaders were outraged. And so was Jonathan Nepoose.
The Edmonton Journal spoke to members of Nepoose's family on the Samson Cree reserve. They revealed that Nepoose was a former member of the Redd Alert gang.
According to www.rapdict.org (data retrieved December 2009), the Redd Alert are the largest prison gang in Western Canada and are often used as "muscle for hire" in their affiliations with the Hells Angels' Edmonton chapter and Vancouver's Independent Soldiers.
After Saddleback's shooting, Nepoose renounced his gang life and sought to educate those tempted to join criminal organisations. Spirit Keeper Youth Society president Len Untereiner said at the time Nepoose began speaking to others about his experiences.
"He was the guy that got out of gangs," Untereiner told The Journal, adding that like many former gang members Nepoose chose speaking at public forums to help reinforce his decision to leave the gang life.
"Jon was that type of person. It helps them stay out."
In the wake of the Saddleback shooting, Nepoose was quoted by the CBC at a gang symposium in Hobbema.
"There is no glory in anything that has to do with any type of violence," Nepoose said.
Nepoose's family said Jonathon had left the reserve years ago and lived in Edmonton with his three children.
Homicide detective Brian Robertson said that what sparked Nepoose's death was not connected to any past gang involvement but was instead a personal matter.
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.
The Last Link on the Left practices fair presentation and the disclosure of relevant interests.
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