The stabbing death of a 77-year-old man in a busy west-end parking lot is a "tragic and senseless crime" and Edmonton police are devoting all necessary resources to finding the culprit, the chief said Thursday.
Edmonton Police Chief Mike Boyd has promised to \Edmonton Police Chief Mike Boyd has promised to "pull out all the stops" to find the person who stabbed a 77-year-old man to death at a west-end restaurant Wednesday.
The man, who was leaving a west-end restaurant with his wife after an anniversary dinner, was killed during an altercation with someone who approached him in the strip-mall parking lot, police said.
"We're pulling out all the stops, and I can assure you there will be no stone left unturned," said Chief Mike Boyd.
"Twenty-nine years of marriage, and this man's life ends like this, and his wife having to witness that. That's what troubles me when we start to see these types of situations."
Boyd said investigators have been canvassing the neighbourhood and have received some help from the public. But he is appealing to anyone who knows something about the crime to come forward.
They believe the attack was random, and that the victim and the attacker did not know each other.
Police describe the suspect as:
* White male in his 20s or 30s, about six feet tall, with a shaved head.
* Wearing a black hoodie with zipper on front, white T-shirt and baggy black sweat pants.
* Last seen running in the area of 102 Avenue and 151 Street.
Attack leaves many stunned
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel also expressed his concern about the daylight attack and offered his condolences to the family.
"If those are the circumstances, it's horrible," Mandel said.
"The stabbing of the husband has been a horrific experience the wife went through.
The police need to find out what caused this, why it happened, and if it is random it's a concern we all have to have."
People have set up a makeshift memorial at the parking lot where the senior was killed.
In the Alberta legislature, Liberal Leader Kevin Taft also spoke about the stabbing. Taft's Edmonton-Riverview constituency office is eight blocks from where the killing took place.
"I'm in that parking lot frequently, and it's just stunning. Your heart breaks for this family. Its blatant, random murder, and it's so shocking it just leaves people speechless."
At the parking lot on 150 Street and Stony Plain Road, a makeshift memorial was set up at the base of a lamp post. People stopped by, leaving flowers, candles or notes.
"It's really a shock when you hear it so close to home," said Teresa Booth, 80, who stopped to visit the site. "It's getting a little scary to go out walking on your own." Others are still in shock that Hans, described as a friendly, funny man with a love for gardening, had become the victim of a daylight stabbing. "I just can't believe that I'll never see him again," neighbour Mary McCabe said. "And now (Adelaide) has nobody. She's just on her own."
"She's in a terrible state."
The area where the stabbing took place borders on part of the city's west end that is dotted with pawnshops and peep shows.
Booth says she has also noticed an increase in the number of homeless people and panhandlers in the area.
At the time of the stabbing, Alberts and his wife had just left an anniversary dinner at the Royal Fork Buffet at Stony Plain Road and 149 Street.
Always a gentleman, Alberts had first opened the door for his wife before he himself went around the car to get in.
But the dinner turned tragic when the killer, who is estimated to be in his late 20s or early 30s, attacked Alberts by stabbing him repeatedly. The attacker said nothing throughout, according to witness accounts.
It was the random nature of the killing, particularly the fact Alberts had done nothing to provoke it, that has most disturbed Edmontonians.
Dunn said Alberts was one of the least likely homicide victims.
"The thing that's so tragic is he wouldn't hurt a fly," she said.
Now, she's hoping police have caught the killer and that the courts will give him a stiff jail sentence. But while she, like many seniors, worries the legal system will treat the killer too leniently, she also thinks the case could be a catalyst for change.
"They're always saying that the law has to change, but I hope that this is the one that does it because she (Alberts's widow) has to live with those images."
