Gangs or drugs played a role in six of the 17 homicides
PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2003.12.31
EDITION: Final
SECTION: CityPlus
PAGE: B3
BYLINE: Florence Loyie
SOURCE: The Edmonton Journal
DATELINE: EDMONTON
ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Ed Kaiser, The Journal, File / Donna Riley, mother of19-year-old drive-by shooting victim Terry Whitford, places her hand on a picture of Terry as a one-year-old child, appearing on right in photo, with his brother James. Terry's murder remains unsolved.; Photo: Journal Stock / (Alan Luan) Chung; Photo: Journal Stock / (Keith Hunter) Raglon; Photo: Journal Stock / (Richard) Prasad; Photo: Journal Stock / (Genevieve) Stokowski
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Death toll down, but gangs worry police
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EDMONTON - Edmonton recorded fewer killings in 2003 than it has seen in more than two decades.
Gangs or drugs played a role in six of the 17 homicides, Staff Sgt. Brian Lobay said, adding guns were involved in each gang-related slaying. "It's a concern because with the use of firearms, the potential for bystanders getting hit is quite high," he said.
This year's lower death toll, compared with last year's 25 slayings, may be the result of the work of units targeting gangs, family violence and parole violation, Lobay said.
"You never know how many homicides these teams could be preventing, much like the gang unit. Granted we had six gang shootings this year, but who knows how many they prevented."
1. Feb. 3. Alan Luan Chung, 23. A convicted killer with gang affiliations, Chung was inside a red Honda Prelude with four other people at 100th Avenue and 105th Street when a dark sport utility vehicle pulled alongside about 5 a.m. Someone inside the SUV opened fire, hitting two people inside the car. At 5:15 a.m., police responded to a call at 111th Avenue and 106th Street. They found Chung on the road, dead of multiple gunshot wounds, and the Honda hung up on a snowbank. No one has been arrested.
2. Feb. 26. Raed Sanjad, 23. At 5:30 p.m., two armed men burst into The Lot at 7104 76th Ave. and opened fire. Sanjad was killed. His cousin, Tyler Sanjad, 20, and a 20-year-old family friend, Robbie, were wounded. Police say the shooting was gang-related. On March 1, heavily armed tactical members arrested Arafat Fattah, 23, after an hour-long standoff at a south-side equipment rental store. A second suspect has not been arrested. Fattah was charged with first-degree murder and other related charges. His five-day preliminary hearing is to continue April 17.
3. March 25. Kyle Driscoll, 19. The young man's badly decomposed body was discovered wrapped up under a bed at the Salvation Army men's shelter near 96th Street and 102nd Avenue. The room's tenant, who worked for the shelter, had been kicked out the night before. Driscoll was last seen at the shelter about three weeks before his body was found. Mark Valkonen, 32, was charged with breach of probation and offering indignity to human remains.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue Feb. 24.
4. April 7. Lorne Hicks, 57. Police were called to a rooming house at 9696 Jasper Avenue after the building manager found a man's body underneath blankets. It's not known how long the body had been there, but police said it appeared he had been dead for some time. Police have determined how he died but have not released that information. No arrests have been made.
5. April 24. Terry Whitford, 19. Two days before he was killed in a drive-by shooting on Walterdale Hill, Whitford told his mother he needed to leave the city and hugged her goodbye. He never got out of Edmonton. At around 11 a.m., as he was driving down Walterdale Hill in a blue Chevy Cavalier, the driver of an older red car pulled alongside and fired several shots, killing Whitford.
Investigators believe Whitford was involved in a street-level drug dispute. No arrests have been made.
6. May 3. Grace Lafantaisie, 71. Police charged David Joseph Lafantaisie, 42, with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body after receiving a tip regarding the senior's death. The son had allegedly been living with his mother's decaying body in their rental home for about two weeks before police arrived. An autopsy found she had been strangled. A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 29.
7. May 3. Ikeche Bates, 21. Bates was gunned down shortly after 6 p.m. on Clareview Road near 132nd Avenue as he returned to his car following a conversation with two people in a small, red car. The car fled the scene after the shooting, which police said was gang-related. Bates died later in hospital. Terence Dashielle Miller, 20, of Edmonton was charged with second-degree murder and being an accessory after the fact. His preliminary hearing is set for March. A 16-year-old male, who cannot be identified, was charged with second-degree murder. He is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 16.
8. May 9. Julia Moen, 33. Police and emergency workers were called to a home near 92nd Street and 90th Avenue where they found a man and a woman, each with a gunshot wound to the head. Moen died in hospital May 1. Police charged her common-law husband, Jason Lundgren, 31, with first-degree murder after he emerged from a coma later that month. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 26.
9. May 23. Samuel Joseph Sagimiuk, 73. About 11:35 a.m., police were called to Butte Apartments on 95th Street after a resident discovered his elderly neighbour dead in his blood-splattered suite. A knife was also found. Investigators have released few details about the death. No arrests have been made.
10. July 8. Christopher Jordan Nijjer, 24. Nijjer was stabbed following an alleged early morning argument in an apartment suite on 102nd Avenue. He was taken to hospital, where he died July 12 from a stab wound to the chest. Police issued a warrant for second-degree murder for Alex Jae Song, 23, who was arrested by Calgary police earlier this month.
11. July 23. Paul David Neilson, 44. Police continue to hunt for six men responsible for his stabbing. Police found Neilson about 4:20 a.m, lying face down in a pool of blood in the middle of the road near 108A Avenue and 95th Street. Witnesses say Neilson was chased by six men who cornered him at a locked entrance of an inner-city rooming house. There they beat and kicked Neilson before stabbing him, first with a knife, then repeatedly with a shard of glass. Police have no motive and no descriptions of the suspects.
12. Sept. 21. Keith Hunter Raglon, 20. Raglon was shot outside a party at the Athlone Community Centre after he became embroiled in an argument with another party-goer. A Canada-wide warrant for second-degree murder and weapons charges has been issued for Shaun Toon, 21. Police say the shooting is gang-related.
13. Sept. 23. Kerry Lawrence, 50. Deborah Lawrence became worried when her husband of nearly 30 years didn't make his daily call to her workplace. She left work early to check on him and found him dead in their bedroom. He'd been stabbed in the chest. Police said it appears someone broke into the couple's home. No arrests have been made.
14. Sept. 25. Eleazor Robert Giroux, 25. Giroux died in hospital after being shot in the back of the head while driving on 127th Avenue near 104th Street. Someone inside a vehicle following Giroux fired the shot. Giroux was known to the police department's gang unit. No arrests have been made.
15. Oct. 8. Richard Prasad, 17. Police found Prasad's body at about 2:20 a.m. in the driver's seat of a blue Mazda that had struck a light pole on 85th Street near 23rd Avenue. Prasad, known to have drug-gang affiliations, was shot in the chest. Darcy Evan Fouquet, 40, and Sean Luther Reaugh, 24, were charged with first-degree murder. Charges against Reaugh were stayed by the Crown on Nov. 3. A preliminary hearing for Fouquet is set for July 5.
16. Oct. 27. Grant Noland Slowsky, 42. Police were called to a parking lot near 127th Avenue and 91st Street about 11 a.m. after a report of two men fighting. They found Slowsky dead from a stab wound to the chest. James Anthony Bulloch, 40, was charged with first-degree murder.
17. Nov. 28. Genevieve Stokowski, 70. Police were called at 3:20 a.m. to a house on 88th Street by the homeowner, who reported a suspicious car parked in his backyard. Police traced the licence plate to an address on 80th Street. When they arrived, they found the overhead door to the garage open and Stokowski dead on the floor at the rear of the double garage. Police have not revealed how she died but believe she was killed during a robbery. Police are looking for the black purse and bag she was carrying after visiting her elderly mother in a nursing home.
PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2003.12.31
EDITION: Final
SECTION: CityPlus
PAGE: B3
BYLINE: Florence Loyie
SOURCE: The Edmonton Journal
DATELINE: EDMONTON
ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Ed Kaiser, The Journal, File / Donna Riley, mother of19-year-old drive-by shooting victim Terry Whitford, places her hand on a picture of Terry as a one-year-old child, appearing on right in photo, with his brother James. Terry's murder remains unsolved.; Photo: Journal Stock / (Alan Luan) Chung; Photo: Journal Stock / (Keith Hunter) Raglon; Photo: Journal Stock / (Richard) Prasad; Photo: Journal Stock / (Genevieve) Stokowski
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Death toll down, but gangs worry police
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDMONTON - Edmonton recorded fewer killings in 2003 than it has seen in more than two decades.
Gangs or drugs played a role in six of the 17 homicides, Staff Sgt. Brian Lobay said, adding guns were involved in each gang-related slaying. "It's a concern because with the use of firearms, the potential for bystanders getting hit is quite high," he said.
This year's lower death toll, compared with last year's 25 slayings, may be the result of the work of units targeting gangs, family violence and parole violation, Lobay said.
"You never know how many homicides these teams could be preventing, much like the gang unit. Granted we had six gang shootings this year, but who knows how many they prevented."
1. Feb. 3. Alan Luan Chung, 23. A convicted killer with gang affiliations, Chung was inside a red Honda Prelude with four other people at 100th Avenue and 105th Street when a dark sport utility vehicle pulled alongside about 5 a.m. Someone inside the SUV opened fire, hitting two people inside the car. At 5:15 a.m., police responded to a call at 111th Avenue and 106th Street. They found Chung on the road, dead of multiple gunshot wounds, and the Honda hung up on a snowbank. No one has been arrested.
2. Feb. 26. Raed Sanjad, 23. At 5:30 p.m., two armed men burst into The Lot at 7104 76th Ave. and opened fire. Sanjad was killed. His cousin, Tyler Sanjad, 20, and a 20-year-old family friend, Robbie, were wounded. Police say the shooting was gang-related. On March 1, heavily armed tactical members arrested Arafat Fattah, 23, after an hour-long standoff at a south-side equipment rental store. A second suspect has not been arrested. Fattah was charged with first-degree murder and other related charges. His five-day preliminary hearing is to continue April 17.
3. March 25. Kyle Driscoll, 19. The young man's badly decomposed body was discovered wrapped up under a bed at the Salvation Army men's shelter near 96th Street and 102nd Avenue. The room's tenant, who worked for the shelter, had been kicked out the night before. Driscoll was last seen at the shelter about three weeks before his body was found. Mark Valkonen, 32, was charged with breach of probation and offering indignity to human remains.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue Feb. 24.
4. April 7. Lorne Hicks, 57. Police were called to a rooming house at 9696 Jasper Avenue after the building manager found a man's body underneath blankets. It's not known how long the body had been there, but police said it appeared he had been dead for some time. Police have determined how he died but have not released that information. No arrests have been made.
5. April 24. Terry Whitford, 19. Two days before he was killed in a drive-by shooting on Walterdale Hill, Whitford told his mother he needed to leave the city and hugged her goodbye. He never got out of Edmonton. At around 11 a.m., as he was driving down Walterdale Hill in a blue Chevy Cavalier, the driver of an older red car pulled alongside and fired several shots, killing Whitford.
Investigators believe Whitford was involved in a street-level drug dispute. No arrests have been made.
6. May 3. Grace Lafantaisie, 71. Police charged David Joseph Lafantaisie, 42, with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body after receiving a tip regarding the senior's death. The son had allegedly been living with his mother's decaying body in their rental home for about two weeks before police arrived. An autopsy found she had been strangled. A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 29.
7. May 3. Ikeche Bates, 21. Bates was gunned down shortly after 6 p.m. on Clareview Road near 132nd Avenue as he returned to his car following a conversation with two people in a small, red car. The car fled the scene after the shooting, which police said was gang-related. Bates died later in hospital. Terence Dashielle Miller, 20, of Edmonton was charged with second-degree murder and being an accessory after the fact. His preliminary hearing is set for March. A 16-year-old male, who cannot be identified, was charged with second-degree murder. He is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 16.
8. May 9. Julia Moen, 33. Police and emergency workers were called to a home near 92nd Street and 90th Avenue where they found a man and a woman, each with a gunshot wound to the head. Moen died in hospital May 1. Police charged her common-law husband, Jason Lundgren, 31, with first-degree murder after he emerged from a coma later that month. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 26.
9. May 23. Samuel Joseph Sagimiuk, 73. About 11:35 a.m., police were called to Butte Apartments on 95th Street after a resident discovered his elderly neighbour dead in his blood-splattered suite. A knife was also found. Investigators have released few details about the death. No arrests have been made.
10. July 8. Christopher Jordan Nijjer, 24. Nijjer was stabbed following an alleged early morning argument in an apartment suite on 102nd Avenue. He was taken to hospital, where he died July 12 from a stab wound to the chest. Police issued a warrant for second-degree murder for Alex Jae Song, 23, who was arrested by Calgary police earlier this month.
11. July 23. Paul David Neilson, 44. Police continue to hunt for six men responsible for his stabbing. Police found Neilson about 4:20 a.m, lying face down in a pool of blood in the middle of the road near 108A Avenue and 95th Street. Witnesses say Neilson was chased by six men who cornered him at a locked entrance of an inner-city rooming house. There they beat and kicked Neilson before stabbing him, first with a knife, then repeatedly with a shard of glass. Police have no motive and no descriptions of the suspects.
12. Sept. 21. Keith Hunter Raglon, 20. Raglon was shot outside a party at the Athlone Community Centre after he became embroiled in an argument with another party-goer. A Canada-wide warrant for second-degree murder and weapons charges has been issued for Shaun Toon, 21. Police say the shooting is gang-related.
13. Sept. 23. Kerry Lawrence, 50. Deborah Lawrence became worried when her husband of nearly 30 years didn't make his daily call to her workplace. She left work early to check on him and found him dead in their bedroom. He'd been stabbed in the chest. Police said it appears someone broke into the couple's home. No arrests have been made.
14. Sept. 25. Eleazor Robert Giroux, 25. Giroux died in hospital after being shot in the back of the head while driving on 127th Avenue near 104th Street. Someone inside a vehicle following Giroux fired the shot. Giroux was known to the police department's gang unit. No arrests have been made.
15. Oct. 8. Richard Prasad, 17. Police found Prasad's body at about 2:20 a.m. in the driver's seat of a blue Mazda that had struck a light pole on 85th Street near 23rd Avenue. Prasad, known to have drug-gang affiliations, was shot in the chest. Darcy Evan Fouquet, 40, and Sean Luther Reaugh, 24, were charged with first-degree murder. Charges against Reaugh were stayed by the Crown on Nov. 3. A preliminary hearing for Fouquet is set for July 5.
16. Oct. 27. Grant Noland Slowsky, 42. Police were called to a parking lot near 127th Avenue and 91st Street about 11 a.m. after a report of two men fighting. They found Slowsky dead from a stab wound to the chest. James Anthony Bulloch, 40, was charged with first-degree murder.
17. Nov. 28. Genevieve Stokowski, 70. Police were called at 3:20 a.m. to a house on 88th Street by the homeowner, who reported a suspicious car parked in his backyard. Police traced the licence plate to an address on 80th Street. When they arrived, they found the overhead door to the garage open and Stokowski dead on the floor at the rear of the double garage. Police have not revealed how she died but believe she was killed during a robbery. Police are looking for the black purse and bag she was carrying after visiting her elderly mother in a nursing home.