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Robert Anderson, 70, was found dead on May 31st, 2011.

Anderson was Edmonton's 24th homicide victim of the year.

Gordon Shaw, 56, was charged with second-degree murder.

Officers were called to the eleven-storey Burlington Arms apartment block at 12841 65 Street at 6:08 p.m. on May 31st, 2011.

Emergency medical services were attending a suspicious death call and because of circumstances found in the fourth-floor suite they decided to notify police.

Homicide detectives soon followed, as did forensics staff.

"We are waiting to hear back from investigators as to whether this was a criminal or non-criminal death," a police spokesman said in a release to media. The victim was tentatively identified as a 70-year-old man.

Early reports indicated the man died at approximately 6 p.m. However, neighbours told media the unmistakable smell of decomposition permeated the fourth floor.

An autopsy completed the next day confirmed that the man died as the result of homicide.

Cause of death was withheld, and as police were still in the process of identifying next of kin his identity was not revealed.

Police did say emergency services were contacted after neighbours found the man deceased in his suite.

Fellow tenants had grown concerned when they had not seen or heard from him for several days.

One of those neighbours identified the dead man as 70-year-old Bob Anderson.

Seventh-floor resident Darla Erickson said Anderson had lived on the fourth floor for about a year and the two would often get together for chats and meals.

Erickson said her friend suffered from Parkinson's disease and would shake uncontrollably.

The woman said Anderson had not been in touch with his wife and children for more than 30 years. She added that he was originally from the Toronto area, had worked in the Canadian Navy, and had spent time living on the street in Vancouver.

Once a 45-plus-only building, new owners of Burlington Arms recently began renovating and selling suites as condos. According to some, this brought in a more transient crowd.

Erickson figured Anderson felt a kinship with the new tenants – some reported to be crack addicts – and often offered them a place to crash and a bite to eat.

Anderson's goodwill perhaps generated some short-term karma.

Erickson said her friend told her he had just won $6,400 at the nearby Century Casino. She told him to be careful "because there are leeches in this building.

"Once you get a sniff of money and a single guy who's not even 100 pounds, how much is it to take him out?" she wondered.

Anderson later told Erickson he had taken a cab to a bank the morning after the win and deposited all but $200 in cash which he kept on him.

When he was found dead, Erickson hadn't heard from Anderson for a couple of days. Others said he hadn't been seen for five days.

Someone who was likey the last person to see Anderson alive was his roommate, a man who had been living in the suite for about a month.

According to Erickson, Anderson didn't like his buddy much.

In addition to being eaten out of house and home, Anderson's sleeping pills and Parkinson's medication began disappearing.

Erickson said Anderson told the man to leave.

"If you give me $200, I'll get off your couch and I'll leave," Erickson said the man responded.

Victim identified; man arrested

On June 6th, 2011 police officially identified 70-year-old Robert Anderson as Edmonton's twenty-fourth homicide victim of the year. Again, autopsy results were not released.

While the story disappeared from the headlines, police kept busy – eventually catching up with a suspect on Vancouver Island.

On August 19th, 2011, with the assistance of RCMP in Port Alberni, British Columbia, police charged 56-year-old Gordon Shaw with second-degree murder.

Shaw appeared in a Port Alberni court on August 22nd before being transferred back to Edmonton.

Police said Shaw was of no fixed address, and they confirmed that he and Anderson knew each other.

Search warrant contents revealed

On August 27th, 2011 the Edmonton Journal published contents of a sworn police affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for Robert Anderson's apartment.

It turns out that police had first visited Anderson's suite on May 25th – six days before he was found dead.

Apparently a Kelowna woman had called asking police to check on Gord Shaw, Anderson's short-term roommate.

Shaw had told the woman he was depressed. Nobody answered police knocks at Anderson's door.

On May 31st, Anderson's next-door neighbour crawled onto his fourth-floor balcony and saw the 70-year-old lying on the floor and not moving. Neighbours called 911.

According to the affidavit, police discovered Anderson lying on his back, his right temple caved in, with blood pooled around a pillow.

No weapons were visible. Officers immediately considered the death suspicious.

The search warrant listed exhibits later seized by police, including a tire iron, and a driver's licence, business card, and personal papers belonging to Gordon Shaw.

The document also contained witness statements that a man named "Gord" had been living with Anderson for about three weeks.

The witness had talked with Anderson almost every day but not since May 26th, just days after Anderson's casino win.

In addition, the neighbour hadn't seen Gord in the week before Anderson's body was found.

Allegations contained in the search warrant had yet to be proven in court.

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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deadmonton 2011 - robert anderson