Man killed hours after release from remand centre
Man’s body was found two kilometres from facility two hours after his release
A man freed from the Edmonton Remand Centre was found slain by the side of the road two kilometres away less than two hours later, Mounties say.
Ahmed Farah, 25, was released from the remand centre at 18415 127 St. at 12:50 a.m. on Nov. 25, RCMP said Tuesday.
His body was found next to Range Road 251, about 250 metres north of Poundmaker Road in Sturgeon County, at 2:40 a.m., said RCMP K-Division’s Cpl. Hal Turnbull.
Farah’s body was discovered by a member of the St. Albert RCMP detachment on routine patrol.
An autopsy at the chief medical examiner’s office in Edmonton on Nov. 28 confirmed the death as a homicide, though police are not releasing the cause of death.
Although unable to comment on the particulars of Farah’s case, Louise McEachern, a spokeswoman for the Justice and Solicitor General Department, said inmates can be set free at any time.
“Individuals who have been court-ordered to be discharged from a remand centre must be released as soon as possible,” she said. “Individuals are free to go as soon as their release can be processed.”
Former inmates are offered the option of staying until the next morning if their release time is in the evening or overnight, she said.
And if the person cannot arrange a ride, they are provided transportation to a local destination, such as a central bus station, or offered transportation to downtown close to social agencies, McEachern said.
According to court documents, Farah was slated to appear in an Edmonton courtroom Nov. 30 for a 2015 offence of driving with no insurance. When he did not turn up, a warrant was issued for his arrest. The court apparently was unaware he had been killed.
Farah also faced a single charge of breach of conditions and was to enter a plea on that Dec. 21.
In May 2016, Farah was sentenced for a string of charges, including possession, obstructing a peace officer and breach of condition recognizance. He was fined $1,250 plus a $375 surcharge, according to court documents.
Investigators working to solve his killing are asking the public for information on any vehicles that may have been spotted in the area of Range Road 251, Township Road 542, 127 Street (or Range Road 250), and the vicinity of Sturgeon Road on the morning he was slain. Anyone who saw Farah — last known to be wearing red pants and a black hoodie — walking in the area is also asked to contact police.
The RCMP Major Crimes Unit is leading the investigation, with help from the Morinville and St. Albert RCMP detachments.
Since Oct. 17, three bodies — one case a homicide, the other suspicious — have turned up in the same general area.
On Oct. 17, 27-year-old Kevin Dean Damien Yellowbird’s body was found in a ditch on a rural road in Sturgeon County. The death is still being treated as suspicious.
On Oct. 30, 26-year-old Krishneel Kamal Kumar’s body was discovered in rural Sturgeon County by a farmer.
“I can assure you that the investigators working on those cases are very alive to the possibility that two or more may be connected,” Turnbull said.
Anyone with information about the Farah case may contact Morinville RCMP or Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or on the internet at www.tipsubmit.com.