EDMONTON – Global News has learned the man convicted of manslaughter in the death of Edmonton Police Service Const. Ezio Faraone is dead.
Sources confirm Albert Foulston was found dead Tuesday afternoon in a north Edmonton house from an apparent drug overdose.
On June 25, 1990, Jerry Crews and Foulston robbed a bank. When they encountered Faraone in an alley, Crews shot the officer. Crews was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and weapons charges and was handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years. Foulston was given 20 years for manslaughter and robbery.
Two years after his killing, a statue of Faraone was erected on the north side of the High Level Bridge in a park that bears his name.
READ MORE: Cop killer Foulston back in jail, facing charges
Foulston was given statutory release in 2004 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
Wil Tonowski was in charge of the EPS’s high-risk offender behavioral assessment team at the time. Tonowski went to B.C. where Foulston was imprisoned. After nearly three hours of interviews he said he wasn’t encouraged that Foulston was willing to make a change in his life.
“He had some insight but not enough, and certainly was not prepared to change his lifestyle and his habits,” Tonowski said and added the police service did make efforts to have Foulston moved out of their jurisdiction.
Tonowski also looked back at records from the national parole board and Correctional Service Canada for Foulston’s behaviour while he was behind bars.
“I was disappointed, but not terribly surprised, by how poorly he had done in all of the programs he was taking at the time.”
In 2005, Foulston left the Matsqui Institute near Abbotsford, B.C., but breached the terms of his release within less than 24 hours by using drugs.
In the years that followed, Foulston repeatedly violated terms of his release.
He was also charged with numerous additional offences, including uttering threats, attempted house break, possession of a weapon, two breaches, impaired driving and possession of a stolen property, but all of the charges were withdrawn except one. He spent one day in jail for possession of a prohibited firearm.
Foulston’s previous statutory release was revoked in January 2011. He had been caught driving without a licence three times and admitted to a police officer he had been drinking, a violation of his conditions. Foulston was also caught spending time with a known criminal. He was released from prison in August 2011 on a mandatory statutory release.
READ MORE: Albert Foulston ordered back to Alberta after breaching conditions
The medical examiner had not completed a toxicology report as of Wednesday afternoon. That will need to be done before an official cause of death is released.
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