Rooming-house shooting case leads to murder charge
One man, 29, arrested Wednesday; warrant issued for second suspect
First-degree murder charges have been laid against one man and a warrant issued for another in the slaying last fall of a 76-year-old man shot dead through a basement door.
Nexhmi (Nick) Nuhi died inside a rooming house at 11119 94 St. house on Sept. 13, 2017.
Police arrested Jared Bird, 29, on Wednesday and charged him with first-degree murder. A provincewide first-degree murder warrant has been issued for Cecil Tompkins, 37.
Nuhi was one of two people found dead of what investigators called drug-related homicides in or near the same rooming house in the span of one week.
The remains of Blayne Burnstick, 25, were discovered in the house Sept. 18. Edward Piche, 29, was arrested by Saskatoon police March 5 and brought back to Edmonton and charged with that killing. Family had earlier reported Burnstick missing.
Earlier this month, Alberta sheriffs placed new restrictions on the rooming house, including limiting the number of tenants inside. The landlord is also required to inspect the property every two days to make sure it is up to fire, health and bylaw standards.
Back in 2004, Cecil Tompkins, then 24, was handed a two-year jail term alongside his younger brother after they pleaded guilty to charges of assault causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement and robbery for a Nov. 30, 2002 attack on a group of five people.
The victims were waylaid after following two girls to what they believed would be a party in a basement suite at 120 Avenue and 50 Street. They were attacked and beaten with fists, feet and beer bottles, robbed of their wallets, cash and bank cards, and confined in a small washroom for an hour, Postmedia reported.
Tompkins at the time apologized in court and said he was to appear in a documentary aimed at getting young Indigenous men to steer clear of joining gangs.
In 1991, Nuhi, then 50, was one of 30 people across Canada arrested in what was then the largest cocaine conspiracy case in Alberta history.
A neighbour said Nuhi was originally from Albania and lived in the basement with two women. He could often be seen walking his dog, Princess, around the neighbourhood.