Murder suspect ‘not a normal guy,’ sibling says
Man accused of killing Red Deer doctor had ‘mental problems,’ half-brother says
The man charged with the murder of a Red Deer doctor came to Canada more than a decade ago seeking treatment for a head injury, says his half-brother south of the border.
Seattle man Deng Mabior, who shares the same moniker as his brother but spells his last name differently, said when he last spoke to his older sibling about 15 years ago, he told him he suffered the head injury in an attack while the family still lived in South Sudan. Mabior believes that may have affected his half-brother’s mental health.
“Whatever he did, I think is not normal. Maybe he (had) mental problems, or something wrong with him,” Mabior told Postmedia Friday. “That is what I want to tell the Canadian community.”
Walter Reynolds, 45, died shortly after the Monday morning attack in an examination room at Village Mall Walk In Clinic. RCMP arrested a man at the scene and said the killing was not a random attack, that the suspect and victim knew each other through the clinic.
On Tuesday, RCMP announced that Deng Mabiour, 54, of Red
Deer, is charged with first-degree murder as well as assault with a weapon on another doctor, and assaulting a police officer.
His half-brother said Deng Mabiour came to the United States from South Sudan around 1998 and lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2005. He later moved to Alberta. Mabior said growing up, his sibling was “not a normal guy.”
“A normal guy likes to communicate with people or share ideas with people, and he’s not sharing his ideas (with) other people. That would mean that this guy has got something wrong with him,” Mabior said.
The brothers grew up together, but Mabiour of Red Deer was several years older than his now-american half-brother.
The two share a father but have different mothers. Mabior said as a child, his brother preferred quiet places. The Seattle resident is the only family member who stayed in touch with Mabiour after they left South Sudan. He said his sibling wasn’t interested in hearing about his family back home, many of whom wanted him to come back and start a family there.
“He didn’t talk to nobody, except me. I’m the one who talked to him, because I am here in the U.S.A.," Mabior said.
When he heard about the charges against his brother through a friend, he was shocked.
“I really feel very bad about it ... it’s bad news,” Mabior said.
Vigils in Red Deer and Edmonton on Friday night paid tribute to the central Alberta doctor, originally from South Africa, whose patients and colleagues say was the best of the best, a physician who cared about everyone and a loving husband and father to two little girls. He moved to Canada in 2003 and Red Deer in 2006.
A South Sudanese group from the Red Deer area issued a statement Thursday, condemning the senseless killing and offering sympathy to his family.
“As a Sudanese community, we denounce the killing of a doctor, harm or disrespect to any caring professional in any circumstances,” reads the statement attributed to Justin Jukeria, chairman of the Sudanese Community of Central Alberta. “Dr. Reynolds was one of the best doctors in our beloved city of Red Deer. He was fabulous and a loving physician who had served our community and the wider Red Deer community with integrity, care, compassion, selflessness and dignity.”
At his first court appearance Aug. 12, Mabiour told the judge he didn’t remember anything about what happened because he is sick, and asked to see a doctor.
He told the judge he didn’t understand the charges against him.
“Because I am sick. I lost memory. Listen to me, I don’t remember. I want a doctor.”
The case has been put over to Sept. 9.