Police won’t name man in fatal stabbing incident

Suspect still at large after bus-stop attack Wednesday

Edmonton city police are not releasing the name of a man who was randomly stabbed to death on a city street last week in what a defence lawyer says appears to be a more stringent application of the department’s new policies around naming homicide victims.

The 28-year-old man was stabbed after a robbery at a bus stop near 118 Avenue and 82 Street at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. He later died in hospital.

Homicide detectives said the suspect, who dropped a Cleveland Cavaliers ball cap, asked for a cigarette before lunging at the men with a knife.

The suspect was still at large Sunday and police were asking the public for tips.

An Edmonton Police Service (EPS) news release Friday said they are not naming the victim because “it does not serve an investigative purpose and the EPS has a duty to protect the privacy rights of the victims and their families.”

Until recently, city police released the names of nearly all homicide victims, except in cases where there was an investigative reason to hold back.

For example, police might withhold information such as the victim’s name in hopes of getting a suspect to admit details about the crime not available to the public, said Derek Anderson, an Edmonton criminal defence lawyer.

That changed last year, when EPS began withholding names in an increasing number of homicide cases, including several domestic homicides.

Police officials cited a number of reasons for doing so, including legal advice that they were improperly following the freedom of information and protection of privacy act.

The Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police began developing provincial victim naming guidelines last year, citing uneven policies across the province (Calgary police continued to release the names of almost all victims).

Anderson called claims that police need an investigative reason to release a victim’s name “offensive.” The claim that police are protecting the privacy of families by not identifying victims is “disingenuous,” he said.

“How did they come to that conclusion, and who has made them the arbiter?” he asked.

“We don’t have transparency in order to convenience the police. We need to be able to make sure that the police are exercising their considerable powers in a way that is consistent with (society’s) values.”

“No crime is private,” he added. “If it is a criminal offence, it is by definition an offence against society. And that’s full stop ... the default is we know who the victims are, we know who the accused or the offenders are, and we only deviate (from) that where that transparency is overruled by other interests,” such as protecting the identities of children.

Jane Orydzuk, who lost her son in a 1994 homicide in Sherwood Park, supports police holding off on releasing names.

She said delaying the release of a name can protect families from the media attention that surrounds homicide cases.

“I’ve heard of cases where (police) want to publish the names right away and the families want to wait to give them time to process it,” said Orydzuk, president of the Victims of Homicide Support Society of Edmonton.

If a person is charged in a crime, the name of the victim is available to the public through court records.