Bed-bug rage led to knife attack

Angry tenant gets five years

An Edmonton man who stormed his landlord’s office and slashed an employee’s neck over a bed-bug complaint was sentenced to five years in prison Monday.

Allan Andkilde, 63, was furious when he entered the offices of Helm Property Management on July 14, 2014, to complain about bed bugs in his downtown apartment suite. He was yelling and swearing at a receptionist when bookkeeper Guo Huang told him to quiet down.

Andkilde left the office as they locked up for lunch, but quickly drove back into the parking lot in his PT Cruiser and stepped from the vehicle with a knife in his hand. Andkilde used the knife handle to smash through the glass of the locked door and went back inside.

Two employees fled, but Huang came out of his office to investigate the racket. Andkilde then slashed Huang across the neck and followed him when the injured man retreated to his office with a hand over his bleeding neck.

“He was pleading with Mr. Andkilde,” said prosecutor Laura Marr. “He told him he didn’t know what his complaint was.”

Andkilde kept screaming, sometimes incoherently, about how he could never sleep because of the bed bugs in his apartment.

Eventually, police were called. Police were unaware that Huang was injured inside the offices as they watched Andkilde rant and stab at the walls with his knife.

He even slashed at himself, court heard. “He was spraying his own blood over the walls,” Marr said. “He told police he would not come out. They would have to kill him. The only way he was leaving was in a body bag.”

Huang could hear police yelling at Andkilde, but couldn’t see them around the corners of the office. When Andkilde was wracked by a coughing fit, Huang saw his chance and bolted from the office. He required stitches to close a five-centimetre gash on his neck.

It was only “good fortune and luck” that Huang did not suffer grievous injuries, Marr said. Since the attack, court heard Huang has suffered from a lack of sleep and memory problems.

Shortly after Huang’s escape, Andkilde collapsed inside Helm Property Management and was arrested. He has been held in custody even since.

Andkilde pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and break-and-enter. Originally, he was charged with attempted murder. Previously, he did not have a criminal record.

“I deeply regret the heinous actions that I took and the injuries I inflicted upon this man,” Andkilde said. rcormier@edmontonjournal.com twitter.com/el_ cormier