Editor’s note: The story was edited to remove a YouTube video.
EDMONTON – Police confirm a vehicle stolen in a brutal home invasion in Sherwood Park earlier this month is the same one used in a pair of deadly convenience store robberies in Edmonton.
On Wednesday, the woman who was attacked in the Sherwood Park incident, told Global News she is still afraid as she alleges three men were involved in the home invasion, and to her knowledge, only two have been arrested.
The vehicle used by three people accused in the murders of two Mac’s store clerks last week was stolen during a home invasion in Sherwood Park, Alta., said Susan Wachowich, in which she was threatened with a sledgehammer and nearly choked unconscious.
During the 14-minute video, Wachowich details the violent home invasion and what led up to it. She said she was visiting a friend in Sherwood Park after driving from Florida.
“Somebody stopped by claiming to know him (the homeowner), called him by his first name, wanted to see him for business stuff, and I said, well, he’s still asleep.”
She claims the person left but returned later the same day, again asking for the homeowner. Once again, the man left after being told he wasn’t home, Wachowich said.
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The same person returned for a third time at around 4 p.m., she said, this time with another man. One of the men asked her if she wanted her sidewalk shovelled.
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“I said no. I went to close the door, and when I went to close the door they shoved the door in. I screamed as loud as I could,” she said.
“They shoved me to the ground and at that point I’m like clutching for life to my phone.”
Wachowich said the men then hit her in the head several times, put a pillow case over her head, and zip-tied her hands together.
The men were looking for money and guns, according to the woman.
As the man was choking her, one of the other men came into the bedroom and told him to stop.
“I was mostly trying to keep a steady head because I knew that if you go into panic mode it’s game over,” Wachowich said. “I think if I had been screaming crying or been upset the whole time, it probably would have fuelled more aggression against me.”
The men then searched the house.
“I could hear them going through everything, and they kept yelling like ‘where’s the guns, where’s the money, where’s the safe,” she added.
“They threatened to hit me over the head with a sledgehammer if I didn’t tell them where the guns were. When I didn’t tell them they hit me again in the face.”
The men stole a Honda Element, which is owned by a relative of the woman. They also stole some electronic devices including a laptop and a cellphone.
RCMP were called to the home at around 5 p.m.
READ MORE: Charges laid in Mac’s Convenience store robberies
Police have confirmed the Honda was the same vehicle the three accused in the Mac’s murders were operating when they were arrested five days after the home invasion.
Wachowich said while the response to her YouTube post has been mostly supportive, she is frustrated that some people are speculating over why her friend’s home was targeted.
“I’m not a drug dealer. I’m not a criminal,” said Chris Daub, owner of Audio Obsession and whose home was broken into. ” (I) don’t have a gun licence. I don’t hunt or anything like that. They clearly don’t know me because they were asking for things that clearly weren’t in my house.”
Both Daub and Wachowich told Global News they don’t feel safe as Wachowich said three men broke into the house and to their knowledge, only two have been arrested.
“Especially now that this has hit the media to the extent that it has, I think both of us are a bit concerned,” she said. “Because I can positively identify him there definitely is some concern for my safety in that regard.”
“There is still one other person that’s involved for sure,” said Daub. “She (Susan) has identified what he looks like. That information has been given to the RCMP.”
Colton Steinhauer, 27, Laylin Delorme, 24, and a 13-year-old boy are all facing a list of charges, including two counts of first-degree murder.
Karanpal Singh Bhangu and Ricky Cenabre were the two store clerks who were killed.
-with files from Kent Morrison
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