2018 HOMICIDE TALLY AT SIX
Loved ones and friends remember latest victims
Two victims, completely unrelated, found within hours of each other less than two kilometres apart — Saskatoon police continue to investigate the city’s fifth and sixth homicides of 2018.
The body of Crystal Louise McFadyen, 37, was found in the early morning hours of July 6 following a house fire in the 200 block of Avenue F North. A little more than 12 hours later, Ken Peter Balan, 27, was found injured in an alley in the 1400 block of 20th Street West and later died at St. Paul’s Hospital from his injuries.
As Saskatoon police investigate the deaths — there was no update in the cases on Friday, according to spokeswoman Alyson Edwards — McFadyen is being remembered for her “infectious smile and outgoing demeanour.”
Balan was “more (than) just a friend ... you were family,” said a loved one.
In her obituary, published on Friday, McFadyen was described by her family as “our daughter, sister, aunty, granddaughter, niece, cousin and friend” who “passed away tragically.” McFadyen was “a treasure to us all,” the family said in the obit.
Shelley Gustafson, who performed with McFadyen in the North Saskatchewan Regiment Pipes & Drums, said the energy McFadyen put into the group “was the same energy that she put into everything she did.
“When Crystal decided to do something she put everything she had into it. While she has been on a break from the band, there has been a hole in our drumming section, which can now never be filled,” Gustafson said. “Her infectious smile and outgoing demeanour will be sorely missed.”
Investigators have identified a person of interest in the McFadyen homicide, but no charges have been laid. Police confirmed the person of interest is also the man charged with arson in connection with the house fire, and that McFadyen and the man are known to each other.
Jonathan Alexander Rosenthal was arrested on Monday and charged with arson in connection with the Avenue F house fire.
McFadyen was 33 weeks pregnant and due to deliver a baby girl shortly, but under the Criminal Code of Canada an unborn infant is not considered a human being. A child becomes a human being, according to the Criminal Code, “when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother, whether or not (a) it has breathed; (b) it has an independent circulation; or (c) the navel string is severed.”
Balan was memorialized at a funeral service on Thursday, where he was remembered for his love of soccer, horse racing, swimming and cooking.
In the funeral program, Balan was described as a “beloved son, brother, cousin, nephew, uncle and friend.” Balan’s friends were called “the backbone to his life.”
“My heart is still heavy with sadness,” wrote Breanne Jamie Marie Crowe in a Facebook post.
“(It’s) hard to believe you are gone. I will miss you and so will many others.
“(You) were more then just a friend to me you were family and something that no one can ever take from us is the love we had for one another. I will cherish all our memories we shared. Rest Easy brother you will always be remembered.”
According to Edwards, police investigators have not yet identified a person of interest in Balan’s death.
“Yeah I’m still shocked,” wrote Patricia Halpape in another Facebook post. “I don’t know why anyone (would) want to hurt him. He was a great guy.”