Hundreds bid adieu to murder victim
Sobs echo at sombre service for city youth worker, Nadine Skow
Hundreds of people gathered at an Edmonton funeral chapel on Monday afternoon to mourn Nadine Skow, a city youth worker who was killed in her home last week.
“She just simply made people happy,” said longtime friend Maxine McCloud, speaking to mourners who filled the South Side memorial chapel.
People could be heard sniffling, and sometimes sobbing, throughout the sombre afternoon service.
Friends and family described the 38-year-old Skow as a strong woman, who was devoted to her friends and family and loved her work. She was described as being “at the top of her game” before her death, and was excited about a move into her new condominium.
Skow was found dead inside her apartment on 104th Street in Central McDougall on Aug. 25 by colleagues checking on her when she didn’t show up for work. Skow worked at Chimo Youth Retreat in Edmonton and with Catholic Social Services, and had spent the weekend camping with youth in the mountains.
Skow’s ex-boyfriend, 38-year-old Silva Koshwal, is in custody charged in her death with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.
Questions remain about why Koshwal was still in the country, having faced a removal order from Canada Border Services Agency five years ago, after a previous conviction for sexual assault against another woman.
Agency spokeswoman Elise Gaetz confirmed in an email that a removal order was obtained in 2010 for “serious criminality due to a sexual assault conviction.”
The statement said the removal order was then stayed by the Immigration and Refugee Board until January 2016.
The statement said the CBSA, “cannot remove an individual when a temporary stay has been granted, unless there is a breach of terms and conditions.”
No one from the Immigration and Refugee Board could be reached for comment on Monday.
Koshwal had two previous convictions for offences involving women in Canada.
He pleaded guilty to assault on one woman in 2006, and was given nine months’ probation. In 2010, he was given 70 days in jail and nine months probation after pleading guilty to sexual assault on another woman. He was sentenced later that year to an additional 30 days in jail for failing to comply with an order under the Sexual Offender Information Registration Act.
Koshwal and Skow had been involved in a commonlaw relationship for several years. Her parents say they had been broken up for about a year. His next court appearance is slated for Sept. 18.
Homicide unit Staff Sgt. Bill Clark described the crime scene as one of the worst he has encountered in his long history. Skow is Edmonton’s 13th confirmed homicide victim of 2015. jpruden@edmontonjournal.com Twitter.com/jana_ pruden