Three days before two men were fatally beaten last month in Edmonton’s Chinatown, a man accused of both murders was left in the city by RCMP agents, CBC News has learned.
RCMP officers with the Parkland detachment left Justin Bone west of Edmonton on May 15, although bail conditions barred him from being in Edmonton without supervision.
Edmonton police officers spoke to Bone later that day, but did not arrest him because “no criminal offense was observed,” the EPS said in a statement Thursday.
Bone, 36, was arrested on May 18 in the murders of Hung Trang, 64, and Ban Phuc Hoang, 61.
He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder. Trang was hit in a body shop and Hoang was assaulted at his electronics store on the same street.
The killings have sparked outrage over high crime rates in Chinatown and sparked calls to stop the release of criminals imprisoned in the Edmonton core.
In late May, referring to the killings, Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro used his power under the Police Act to demand a report from the City of Edmonton on what is being done to control crime in the heart of the city.
On Thursday, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi outlined a comprehensive security plan. Sohi said the city plans to urge the government to stop releasing criminals from provincial correctional facilities on the streets of Edmonton.
“A journey in the light of the stars upside down”
Now, a family friend who had housed Bone in Alberta Beach, 70 miles northwest of Edmonton, accuses the RCMP and Edmonton police of ignoring their warnings about the danger Bone could pose to to public safety.
“This is like a walk in the light of the stars upside down,” the man said in an interview, referring to a widely condemned police practice that came to light in Saskatchewan years ago. collected the natives and left them in remote rural areas.
“Leave them in the city center and make sure it was a problem for the city of Edmonton.”
CBC has agreed not to identify the man. As ordered by the courts, Bone lived with him while on bail.
Court documents show that Bone, a repeat offender, was released from Edmonton Prison Center on April 26, 22 days before the murders.
Accused of burglary, he was released on strict terms, such as a curfew and a firearms ban. He was prohibited from consuming or possessing drugs or alcohol.
He was ordered to attend a 90-day treatment program in Edmonton and was told to live in Alberta Beach when he is not in treatment.
Bone’s terms barred him from being in Edmonton, except to attend court, meetings with his attorney, medical appointments, or when he was in the company of his Alberta Beach family friend, unless his supervisor the deposit is approved in advance.
The RCMP said that on May 15, officers from the Parkland detachment responded to a complaint that Bone was making threats at the Alberta Beach home. The owner told police he wanted Bone out of the house.
After consulting with the detachment’s domestic violence coordinator, officers determined that the situation did not reach the threshold of the charges, Parkland RCMP Insp. Mike Lokken said in a statement to CBC News on Thursday.
The RCMP tried to contact Bone’s parole officer to discuss “alternative arrangements”, but was unable to contact the parole officer, according to the statement.
RCMP agents drove Bone into the city and left him unattended.
“The officers, in consultation with their supervisor, determined that the best course of action would be to take Mr Bone to an area where support and services were available, and left him near a social service center in the far west of Edmonton, so that it could easily access these services, “Lokken said in a statement.
Lokken said officers notified Edmonton police of his actions.
In a separate statement Thursday, an EPS spokesman said city police officers spoke to Bone that day after someone called them about him.
“Officers assessed how he came to be in Edmonton and, as no criminal offense was observed, officers were unable to legally arrest him,” EPS said in a statement.
“He was advised to respect the balance of his orderly conditions and to discuss any changes with his parole officer.”
The RCMP contacted Bone’s parole officer the next day, May 16. “Officers were able to confirm that communication had taken place between Mr Bone and his probation officer, and that Mr Bone was working with his probation officer to obtain the support he needed.” said the RCMP statement.
Three days later, Bone was arrested shortly after Trang and Hoang’s killings.
The RCMP said a review of the officers’ actions code of conduct was ordered on Monday this week.
The RCMP also said that on Tuesday they notified the director of law enforcement of Alberta, who determined that the review should remain with the RCMP of Alberta.
The Alberta Beach owner said Bone was volatile and delusional and should never have been released in Edmonton without support or a place to stay.
“I told the RCMP, I told the Edmonton City Police that he was loose, that he was mentally ill, that he was falling apart and that there was a problem and he needed to be arrested.” to say.
“Three different entities in the justice system. And all three failed not just me, but Justin himself. And those two innocent people who died.”
Through his lawyer, Bone declined to comment on the case or say why he was in Chinatown on the day of his arrest.
The Alberta Beach man said he felt compelled to help Bone. He had been a roommate of Bone’s late uncle and had known the family for decades.
Justin Bone, 36, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the murders. (Justin Bone / Facebook)
Bone needed a place to stay while he waited for a bed at the recovery center where he was ordered to attend.
The center, which is facing a backlog of patients, currently does not accept direct transfers from prisons.
But the situation soon became volatile. The man said Bone was struggling with his addictions and a change in his medication.
Bone began abusing drugs and alcohol and demanding money.
The owner said on May 15 Bone threatened him after asking for money and not getting it.
The man knew a GRC traffic stop had been set up nearby. He went there to ask the agents for help.
“Honestly, I thought I was going to die,” he told CBC.
Later that day, the man went to the Parkland RCMP detachment to ask about Bone’s whereabouts. He also asked about filing a restraining order, he said.
He said the arrest officer told him that Bone had been left in the city.
“I said, ‘Thank you very much, now I have to live in fear,'” the man said. “He just shook his head.”
The man said that just hours after talking to the RCMP at the detachment, Bone was calling him to ask for him to be picked up in downtown Edmonton.
He said he then called Edmonton police, telling an officer that Bone was in town and offering details of his whereabouts in hopes that he would be arrested.
He said an EPS officer told him that Bone had not broken any rules, as it was the RCMP who had left him in the city.
He said he made a similar call to Bone’s parole officer on May 16. CBC News spoke with the parole officer, but she declined to comment. Alberta Justice has not answered questions about the CBC News case.
Since then, the man has filed a restraining order against Bone. He said he is still being prosecuted for murder.
Bone remains in custody, awaiting his next court hearing on June 17.
Judicial documents show that he has a long criminal history, with convictions dating back to 2005.
The documents portray a man with a violent and deeply troubled personal history who has spent most of his adult life in and out of prison. His previous convictions include sexual interference, criminal malformations and assault.
In 2018, Bone was convicted of two counts of sexual interference involving a minor for offenses dating back to a period between January 2012 and December 2014.
A problematic past
A Gladue report related to the conviction shows that Bone had a troubled education. Gladue reports tell the family and community story of an indigenous person in court.
The report details how Bone, born in Lac La Biche, Alta., Was a victim of domestic violence, physical and sexual assault throughout his childhood. His family, members of the Papaschase First Nation, fought substance abuse and homelessness.
The family moved frequently, allegedly to avoid detection by child welfare authorities, the report says. Bone spent much of his adolescence in group homes.
He drank his first drink at six and was regularly consuming marijuana and alcohol at 14. He later developed a methamphetamine addiction, according to the Gladue report.
The man who offered Bone a place to live in Alberta Beach said Bone needed a mental health intervention years ago, but that he continued to escape through the cracks.
“Years ago, I should have had a mental health bed, not a prison cell,” the man said.
“I can’t do anything else for him. He’s not the same person I used to be.”
The killings have sparked outrage over high crime rates in Chinatown and sparked calls to stop the release of criminals in the core of Edmonton. (Nathan Gross / CBC)
Trang’s daughter Christina Trang said Thursday she was ill to learn of Bone’s interactions with police.
He said he could not understand why he was left in the city. He said the RCMP and police have broken public confidence.
“A lot of people have to be held accountable for their actions,” he said. “This whole situation could have been avoided and the price to pay for it, for my family, is too high.”