Calgary police have charged three people in connection with the city’s 27th homicide of 2016.
The victim, 17-year-old Ezzulddin Al-Ogaidi, was found in a remote area north of Morley, Alta., on Monday. As of Wednesday his cause of death hadn’t been released.
Police made the grisly discovery as part of an investigation which began on Saturday evening, when officers were called to a home in Monterey Park for a check on welfare.
The caller told police they heard what sounded like a gunshot at a home in the 0-100 block of San Diego Way N.E. and were concerned for the people living there. Initially, police weren’t able to find anything unusual at the house, which investigators described as empty and dark.
Watch below: Calgary Police Insp. Don Coleman explains the initial call to the residence.
The next day, police said they were tipped off about a homicide which investigators now believe happened at the home on San Diego Way.
That evening, investigators took four people into custody from a house in the 100 block of Dover Tree Place S.E.
Calgary Police Insp. Don Coleman said officers found a fire in the backyard at the Dover home.
“Police intervened and it would appear there were attempts to destroy evidence going on by way of the fire,” he said.
“Most of our homicide investigations, you’re called to a scene where there’s a body and potentially witnesses and you know what went on and the investigation unfolds from there. This one, the whole thing had to be put together from start to finish, which causes delays, for sure.”
On Wednesday, police announced three of the four men taken into custody from the Dover home — Ahmed Abid, 24, Mohammed Khalil, 28, and Ashraf Jasem Ajil, 23, — had been charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
All three men are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016.
Coleman said all four people taken into custody, as well as the victim, were known to each other and have some association with the San Diego Way address. He didn’t provide details on their relationships or potential criminal background.
A fifth man taken into custody on Monday was released without charges pending further investigation.
Guns were also recovered and will be analyzed to determine if they were used in the homicide, Coleman said.
Coleman said it isn’t yet clear who was responsible for Al-Ogaidi’s death, but police have a “pretty good idea.”
Investigators were originally searching for a 19-year-old woman who they believe may have witnessed the homicide.
Kasetta Marshall has since been in touch with police and is considered a person of interest. Coleman said she would be interviewed by police Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Calgary Police Service non-emergency line at 403-266-1234, the Homicide Unit Tip Line at 403-428-8877 or contact Crime Stoppers.
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