Who killed Ed Phalen?
Family still waiting for answers on 10th anniversary of murder
Editor’s Note:
This is part of a weekly series looking at cold cases throughout Atlantic Canada.
TRENTON — Veronica Phalen can still picture her husband, Ed, playing with their children.
“He was an amazing father,” Veronica said. “He used to lay on his back and put the kids on his hands and push them up in the air like they were flying.”
Happy memories like those, however, are now tainted by pain.
On Oct. 25, 2011, the Trenton family's lives changed forever.
It was a rainy, dark evening when Veronica asked Ed if he could run down to the Needs convenience store to pick up some cigarettes. The store was just a few minutes from their Mechanic Street home, and it wasn't long before she heard the family van pull in the yard again.
But instead of the house door opening, moments later, she heard a loud bang.
“Mommy, it's fireworks,” her littlest said.
“That's not fireworks, honey,” Veronica responded as she rushed to the door.
She yelled for Ed, but he didn't respond. She came back in and grabbed her coat and cellphone and went outside.
She found her husband lying in front of the next-door neighbour's house, dead.
She believes she saw someone with a dark hood walking up the road at the time.
But one thing was certain. In that instant, she was left alone, a widow with four children.
A few blocks away, Carol Phalen's phone rang around 8 p.m. It was her son, Randy, calling to say he heard there had been shots fired on Mechanic Street.
“Was it Ed?” Carol asked. “I don't know for sure,” Randy responded.
In a way, Carol already knew the answer. She had been troubled with bad dreams in the days leading up to her son's death — images of the Grim Reaper turning and looking at her.
On Oct. 25, her nightmare became reality.
“I think about it every day. It's like a bad dream that you can't wake up from,” Carol said.
Police responded quickly to the area, blocking off streets and searching for a suspect. Neighbours reported hearing two loud bangs. Some saw a person with a dark hoodie leaving the area. Word quickly spread that someone had died.
Pictou County was already on edge at the time becauuse of the disappearance of Amber Kirwan, who had been last seen on Oct. 9. Her body was found Nov. 5, 2011, and a previously convicted killer, Christopher Falconer, was later charged with her murder.
Because New Glasgow Regional Police, who provided service to Trenton, were tied up with the search for Kirwan, the RCMP took over the investigation into Ed's death.
But in the small town, answers were few. A year later, to encourage someone to come forward, the province offered a reward of $150,000 cash for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for his death.
"For the sake of Mr. Phalen's family, I encourage anyone with information to please come forward," Ross Landry, then-pictou Centre MLA and justice minister, said at the time.
"The Phalen family deserves answers and we all need to work with law enforcement to ensure justice is served. Remember, no piece of information is too small."
STILL NO ANSWERS
Ten years after Ed's death, the family still doesn't have answers.
“There is no update on the investigation other than the investigation is continuing and investigators are following up on any and all leads as they come in,” RCMP Cpl. Chris Marshall told Saltwire Network. “As always, if anyone has information related to the investigation, please contact the Northeast Nova RCMP major crime unit or Crimestoppers.”
Veronica can see the effects of Ed's death all around her.
“I don't know even how to put it into words. It's rough every day since Day 1. My kids have grown up without their dad.”
Veronica and Ed's oldest child was eight and the youngest was four when Ed was killed at age 44. They all have struggled with anxiety in the decade since his death.
To this day, the kids have questions.
“We have no answers,” Veronica said.
Veronica knows it's changed her, too. As a mother, she says she's become overprotective. While her kids are all teenagers now, she still won't let them walk alone at night.
Ed's mom Carol, meanwhile, tries to stay busy.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she was a regular at 50+ Club activities. Now she enjoys spending time walking around Trenton Park and tries to go to church regularly.
“I'm trying to keep my faith, and it's not easy,” she explained.
The last 10 years have been trying ones.
“I just sit here, day after day, waiting for the phone to ring to get an answer,” she said. “If I could just get an answer.”
Veronica and Carol are aware of the name of one person that's suspected in the community. Whether or not that person is the one responsible or not, they don't know for certain.
“I think the police are doing everything they can, but without people in the community willing to come forward, there's not much more they can do,” Veronica said.
She urges anyone who knows anything to go to the police.
“We're all struggling — myself, my parents, his mom, his brother,” Veronica said. “We need answers.”
Ed's dad, also named Ed, died Jan. 14, 2013, not knowing who killed his son. At 78, Carol worries she may also take her questions to the grave.
“I am pleading for someone to help me understand why my son was taken from me 10 years ago,” she said.
“I miss him every day of my life.”