last link on the left › deadmonton

WARNING

Troy Ryan Poulin, 20, was stabbed to death February 2nd, 2008.

Poulin was Edmonton's fourth homicide victim of the year.

Case status is open and active.

A 20-year-old man was found lying in the middle of 63rd Avenue near 106th Street just before 7:00 a.m. on February 2nd, 2008 – just across from Allendale school.

The passerby who found the man asked a nearby resident to call police and emergency services. The man was transported to hospital where he died at 7:20 a.m. of his injuries. It was later revealed the man died from stab wounds.

Homicide Det. Robert Mills told media investigators believed the crime was gang related and police were also investigating possible drug ties.

"We believe at this time he does have some gang connection and we're just trying to investigate that further.

"Right now we don't see any connection with the other incidents we've had at this time," Mills said, referring to the city's recent spate of drive-by shootings. "We're very early in the investigation so it's unknown if there is any connection at this time."

The area of 106th Street and 63rd Ave was cordoned off with yellow police tape as officers focused on a patch of blood-stained snow among tire tracks.

Michael Noga was getting ready for work when an elderly man interrupted his usual morning routine.

"I got a knock on my door at about ten to seven this morning and a gentlemen said there was 'a body in the street – better call an ambulance.'

"So I grabbed my phone and ran outside. The guy was laying ... he had his arm laying out."

Noga said the man was lying on his back with blood seeping through a puffy winter jacket.

"It looked like on his right side and his stomach there was a lot of blood loss right there. He had blood on his face and in his mouth."

"When I first saw it, I assumed he was dropped there, just the way he was, right in the middle of the road," he said. "A car probably drove by and dumped it."

"It looked like he had been out there for a bit," said Noga, adding the victim was cold to the touch, had no pulse and wasn't breathing.

Despite those less-than-promising indications, Noga gave the victim chest compressions while waiting the five minutes for police and and ambulance to arrive.

Noga said there was nothing found immediately around the man.

Stuart Embleton, an Allendale resident since 1978, suggested the victim wasn't from the neighbourhood.

The man said he had seen drug deals nearby and is aware that prostitutes work the area near the Gateway Motel at 104th Street and 63rd Avenue.

"It's a great neighbourhood - up until this morning," Embleton told the Journal, adding police were paying close attention to an unfamiliar car parked in front of his house.

"It's unknown if this is the actual site of the stabbing. We're just trying to piece everything together now," Det. Mills commented, leaving open the possibility the man was brought to the scene.

Mills said police were exploring all avenues in their investigation and had yet to determine who the victim may have been with and where he was before being stabbed. Included was whether the homicide could have been the result of a drug deal gone bad.

Insp. Terry Rocchio was asked if the city's fourth homicide victim had gang affiliations, an increasingly common demoninator in the recent violence on city streets.

"He was known to police, and he did have some ties to gangs in the city," Rocchio said. "Is this a gang-related homicide? I'm not too sure and that's part of our investigations.

"Unfortunately it's becoming more violent out there for the gang members and I worry about our members also. Fortunately our members are very well trained and equipped. I hate to see our members get hurt or any innocent members of the public," he added.

The news that the victim may have had gang and drug ties didn't come as a surprise to residents.

"My husband and I have long suspected there's been some drug activity going on in the neighbourhood," one resident told the Edmonton Sun. "Vehicles pulling up – drug exchanges happening. It's like they've picked this street to be their drug-exchange street."

Reporters challenged Insp. Rocchio with the views of residents.

"It may be fully true, but I'm unaware of that right now, "Rocchio replied. "I know that there is a pub by there, and that may be responsible for some traffic and people parking there."

Residents also told media that drug deals were a regular occurence outside the Allendale Pub, located around the corner from the crime scene.

"There have been problems in the past," one woman said. "It's just a little seedy. There are some transient people, but it's like that all around the city."

The owner of the Allendale Pub, Eric Mak, said he left his pub around 2 a.m. and noticed nothing unusual near his establishment or the apartments surrounding it.

"I didn't see anything or notice anything unusual - the last customer left around 1:30 and we closed up at 2 a.m. as usual," Mak said.

"Sometimes people come in and they look strange, and you keep an eye on them," he added. "But we're just a neighbourhood pub."

Mak said he got rid of the pub's public pay phone recently because too many people "with their faces shadowed by pulled-up hoodies" would use the phone and then go outside to speak with people in cars.

The Allendale Pub is the only late-night establishment on the block.

On February 5th, 2008 the victim was identified as 20-year-old Troy Ryan Poulin.

An autopsy confirmed he died of multiple stab wounds.

Upon release of the medical examiner's findings, police offered their current assessment of the case.

While they think Poulin had gang connections, it was too soon to say if the stabbing was "gang-motivated," a police spokesman said. "It's probably not a random occurrence."

"At this point, no one is in custody and charges haven't been laid," the spokesman continued, urging anyone with information to contact police.

"If people are frightened or wary, they can do it online."

Police also released images of two clues they hoped would jar public memory and lead to some tips.

Pictured is Troy Poulin's right shoe, a size 10 white Starter brand with blue trim. The shoe's mate is missing, and police said it may have been discarded in the area.

The second image was of a car investigators believed Poulin was driving prior to 7:00 a.m. on February 2nd – the day his body was found. It is a maroon 1989 Chrysler New Yorker with a pinstripe on the side.

Larger images of the shoe and car can be seen here and here.

Those with information about Troy Poulin's death were asked to call 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.

"He didn't deserve to go down as Edmonton's fourth homicide of the year. That's not who he was."

Those were the words of a woman as recorded in an interview with the Edmonton Sun. The woman helped raise Troy Poulin when he and his mother lived with her several years ago.

"He had a big heart. He just went through tragedy himself, and this is just a lot for the family," she said.

Poulin was recently dealing with his father Art's death from a long illness and the woman said Troy had done a lot to care for the man in his final days. (Art is pictured above with his son).

"We hugged and we kissed," she said of the last time she saw him two weeks before he was found on a city street.

While police have shed little light on Poulin's movements immediately before his body was found, Shayna McArter, the daughter of the woman who helped raise the man, said he had been in Spruce Grove sorting through his father's affairs at his apartment.

According to the 16-year-old, Poulin left at some point saying he had something to do in Edmonton.

Speaking for the man's relatives, McArter said they were confident someone has knowledge of the crime.

"They are either scared or just don't want to come forward. His family would like to know what happened and justice brought forward."

Police had told media that Poulin was known to them. McArter acknowledged a past run-in with the law a few years back, but said that's not the Poulin his loved ones knew.

"After he got in trouble for it, he stopped. He was on the right track," she said.

"Every boy makes his mistakes in life. Every boy makes his mistakes like (being at) the wrong place (or with) the wrong people," McArter told the Sun.

The teen said Poulin had spoken of soon going to college. He had spent a couple of years working on and off since graduating from St. Francis Xavier High School.

McArter remembered Poulin, who she considered a cousin, as a talented hockey player and a generous person who taught her how to do everything as they were growing up together.

A tribute to Troy Poulin appeared on Facebook, a popular internet social networking site.

Friends and family posted images that seemed to document the life of a man in constant transition.

The Edmonton Journal printed contents of an e-mail from Troy's friend Natasha Wildman. There was no indication if it was voluntarily submitted to the paper or was solicited by a reporter.

"Troy was much more than the victim of gang violence he has become," Natasha wrote.

"I think he was a victim of the draw to a very unfortunate lifestyle that has become so normal in this society, a society in which material things and reputation are held above almost everything else.

"I'm hoping that some good can come out of my dear friend's death, even if it deters a small number of people from engaging in this lifestyle, and being ignorant of the very real dangers that accompany it."

The lifestyle Natasha likely referred to was the focus of a media awareness session held in November 2007 by Staff Sgt. Kevin Galvin, head of the Edmonton Police Service's Co-ordinated Crime Unit.

"There's a group of young people who get involved with a business process that they think is the MTV lifestyle and they are not prepared for the violent end of it," Galvin warned. "And when it occurs they don't know how to get out."

Police had yet to confirm what gang connections, if any, Poulin had.

Funeral services for Troy Poulin were held at Park Memorial, 9709 111 Avenue, on Friday, February 8th, 2008.

It has been learned that the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Sun were asked to not photograph the event. Electronic media did not report the service either.

deadmonton 2008 - troy ryan poulin