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WARNING

Nawar Jawad, 24, was found beaten to death December 2nd, 2007.

Jawad was Edmonton's thirty-first homicide victim of the year.

Case status is open and active.

Police continue to investigate Edmonton's 31st homicide of 2007, that of a 24-year-old man who died of blunt force cranial trauma. His body had been stripped naked, set on fire and left in a ditch.

Police responded to reports of a body being found near 211th Avenue and 17th Street N.E. at about 4:00 p.m. December 2nd, 2007.

It was reported by media that the body was found in a ditch by a woman walking her dog about 500 metres east of the intersection. It was reported by police the discovery was made by a couple driving in the area who spotted something they quickly recognised as a body.

Police initially treated the matter as a suspicious death.

"All we know so far is that a person was found deceased in a field here," said city police Sgt. Gary Willits.

Investigators blocked roads near a wooded area dotted by a few farmhouses and small acreages. Efforts were made to preserve the crime scene against an expected heavy snowfall.

Homicide detectives and forensic staff were brought in immediately fueling speculation the discovery of the body – identified by some media sources as being male – was more than a case of exposure to the elements.

“Right now our homicide detectives are investigating it and it is being considered a suspicious death,” a police spokesman said.

“Weather is always taken into consideration in investigations, especially when you’re dealing with a body and you’re trying to determine not only the time of death but also the cause of death,” the spokesman added.

Late December 3rd police announced the body found was being treated as a homicide.

About 10 cm of snow fell over the city in the 24 hours after the body was discovered.

The body was removed from the scene Monday afternoon. Staff from the Medical Examiner's office could be seen struggling with the weight of the victim.

"There's never cops out here – ever," area resident Melissa Lemoine told Global Edmonton.

"So this is the first time we've seen four cop cars at once. We went 'Holy crap.' We're like ... we're kinda stunned ... I haven't seen cop cars out here."

"There were cops everywhere," Donna Barley told media.

"This is very scary. We've never had this problem like this before. Cops everywhere ... it kind of gives you the creeps ... too close."

In its usual fashion, the Edmonton Sun drew parallels between the found body and the December 1st, 2007 murder of Wesal Arabi.

The Sun reported the case of the charred and naked body of a heavy-set man was being probed as a gang-related slaying.

A police spokesman did not confirm what condition the body was in. And homicide Det. Bill Clark could not confirm if there are any gang connections to the charred remains.

The spectre of elevated gang violence was the focus of two recent stories on this site.

On November 25th, 2007 criminologist Bill Pitt told the Sun, "Organised crime is attracted to this economy like bees to honey. This is the calm before the storm."

Two weeks earlier Staff Sgt. Kevin Galvin, head of the Edmonton Police Service's Co-ordinated Crime Unit, stated Alberta has become the home of two dozen organised crime groups who have found enough room in the bountiful illicit economy to co-exist and co-operate peacefully – until players in the scene get out of line.

On December 7th, 2007 police released autopsy results that indicated the 24-year-old man died of blunt force cranial trauma. Police confirmed earlier media reports the man was found naked and his body had been set on fire after he had died. The man's identity was being withheld until next of kin have been notified.

The autopsy was not able to be completed until four days after the man's body was removed from the scene.

"The body was frozen, so they had to wait for it to be thawed," explained a police spokesman.

As cold weather slows natural decomposition processes, authorities were not able to determine how long the man may have been dead.

In statements to media, police did not confirm or rule out gang or drug involvement.

On December 13th police identified Nawar Jawad as the victim of the city's thirty-first homicide of the year.

No suspects were named and authorities appealed to the public for help in tracing Jawad's last movements.

Those with information were asked to contact Edmonton police at 423-4567, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.tipsubmit.com - a secure tip submission web site.

A private funeral for Nawar Jawad was held at the Islamic Shia Ithna-Asheri mosque in south Edmonton.

Mohamedhussein Dhalla, the president of the mosque association, noted the family was very secretive about the circumstances of his death. Dhalla said he heard the young man's body had been burned beyond recognition.

Those who follow Edmonton's crime scene closely may have recognised Jawad's name from a May 21st, 2005 incident that involved a traffic collision near 78th Street and 105th Avenue.

Three men ran from an SUV after it struck a minivan. Police found two handguns, $80,000 worth of ecstasy, $1,500 worth of cocaine and $11,000 in cash in a bag.

Jawad was charged with dangerous driving and paid a $1,000 fine.

Mohamad Washah faced 11 firearm-related charges and Yassir Mawfek Khaled was charged with possessing proceeds of crime in connection with the same incident.

Khaled later operated the Urban Stylez clothing store, the scene of the murder of Ola Tinineh Moses on May 16th, 2007.

But Nawar Jawad was likely best known for his involvement in a kidnapping, extortion and torture case that occured in Old Strathcona in April 2002.

The incident began March 29 when an 18-year-old man met a friend at a north-side mall. At gunpoint, the man was ordered into a waiting car. He was driven to a home at 8615 106th Street, stripped naked and his arms and legs were taped to a chair. Then came demands for cash.

During the 24-hour ordeal, it was alleged the man had a gun put into his mouth.

A relative of the victim arrived with money to buy his freedom. Four others followed, and a total of six persons – five males ranging in age from 18 to 48, and a 19-year-old female – ended up being held hostage by five masked men.

The 18-year-old man was stripped naked and taped to a futon frame. Chunks of his hair were cut out and his back was lit on fire several times. The man was later treated at hospital for serious burns to his back and buttocks.

Some of the other victims were beaten, had their heads shaved and were forced to smoke crack cocaine.

Once police became involved, officers seized a loaded assault rifle, cocaine and cash.

Nazim Ali, 19, faced 29 charges including kidnapping, extortion, unlawful confinement, threats and trafficking. Farres Mohammed Rahime and Nawar Jawad, both 18, Kyle Glen Sargent, 19, and Michael James London, 25, all faced up to 29 charges including kidnapping and extortion.

At his trial, Jawad said he arrived at the house to attend he thought was going to be a cocaine party. Someone at the party, identified by Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson only as Mr. X, contrived a plan to bring other people there so the group could get money from them.

Mr. X brought the 18-year-old to the house where he was stripped, blindfolded, tied up and urinated on in hopes of forcing him to hand over $10,000.

The 18-year-old, not identified due to a publication ban, was ultimately allowed to leave after telephoning a cousin, who agreed to hand over $3,000, and after signing over ownership of his 1999 Cougar.

The man went home and his father called police.

Jawad admitted shaving the man's head and punching him. He pleaded guilty to extortion and unlawful confinement, resulting in dozens of other charges being dropped. Jawad was sentenced to three years in prison.

In the years since his brushes with the law, friends thought Jawad had turned his life around.

"I thought that he had paid his dues and was on the right track for the past two years," a source told the Edmonton Sun.

During Jawad's 2002 court case, his lawyer said he had come to Canada from his native Iraq 11 years earlier. Jawad's father said his son had grown up during the Saddam Hussein regime and as a result had "unresolved issues."

The manner of his undignified death – stripped naked and burned after he died of head injuries – was something gang experts have said is a way killers send messages to other gangs or debtors.

Police had yet to say whether Jawad's killing was gang-related.

In a story published by the Edmonton Sun on December 17th, 2007, police revealed that Nawar Jawad was a prime suspect in the murder of Ola Tinineh Moses.

Moses suffered multiple gunshot wounds in a shooting that was described as "execution-style" in the downtown Urban Stylez hip-hop clothing store on May 6th, 2007.

"We're one suspect down in the Moses case. Nawar Jawad is one guy we suspected may have pulled the trigger," homicide Det. Bill Clark told the Sun.

"It's possible Jawad was killed as retribution for Moses. Both homicide cases remain open and we can't rule that out."

The detective expanded somewhat when questioned on the Sun's story by Global Edmonton.

"When you lead that type of high-risk lifestyle – it's exactly that, it's high-risk – and you're subject to other poeple that may not like you for other reasons."

"So while it's a good possibility Nawar Jawad – possible that his slaying had something to do with the Urban Stylez – we can't say that 100% if that's the case," Clark said.

While police had yet to lay murder charges in the Moses case, two men faced lesser offences.

Omar Househ, 25, was charged with kidnapping with a firearm, two counts of unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon, uttering threats causing death or bodily harm, pointing a firearm, and possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm.

Samer Farzat Chehimi, 21, is wanted for kidnapping and two counts of unlawful confinement and remains at large.

Det. Clark confirmed Jawad was among several people they wanted to talk to in connection with the Moses homicide.

"We'd been looking for Jawad for months to question him about the killing. He and Moses and a lot of other people involved in the Urban Stylez shooting knew of each other ... now we may never know if Jawad did it," Clark told the Sun.

Police also indicated they wanted to explore the relationship between Jawad and Urban Stylez store owner Yassir Khaled.

"Khaled and Jawad knew each other," Clark said.

When Global Edmonton caught up with Khaled outside police headquarters a week after the shootout in his store he offered just "No comment, have a nice day, thank you."

It appeared Khaled had said little more when talking with police, according to Clark.

The Sun tried their hand at getting Khaled to talk but the paper reported he could not be reached for comment. The Urban Stylez outlet has not re-opened and the phone number at his Stony Plain Road Bling Canada store is no longer in service.

On January 24th, 2008 it was reported that one of the two men charged in connection with the murder of Ola Moses was gunned down in the doorway of a home in Castle Downs.

Media reports indicated Omar Househ was the victim of multiple gunshot wounds after he answered a supper-hour knock on the door of his family's upscale home.

While homicide detectives have not gone on record stating as much, those responsible for Jawad's murder would likely be strong suspects in the shooting of Househ.

deadmonton 2007 - nawar jawad