Four people were seriously injured — three of them critically — in an overnight machete attack earlier this week in north-central Edmonton’s Beverly neighbourhood.
The man accused in the attack has an extensive criminal record, police and the courts confirmed to Global News.
Police responded Monday, July 31, around 4 a.m. to a disturbance at a home near 118th Avenue and 38th Street.
Officers arrived to find two women and a man suffering from extensive, life-threatening injuries. Police said the attacks happened at a second home nearby.
While the officers were providing urgent first aid to the three victims while waiting for EMS to arrive, another man suffering from a serious stab wound was discovered in a vehicle nearby.
While police said the machete assaults were not random, investigators believe they were unprovoked.
A suspect was identified and on Wednesday, Bobby-James Lavallee, 33, of Prince George, B.C. was found and arrested.
Lavallee is charged with attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault, as well as breaching his conditions and probation.
Lavallee has an extensive criminal record that includes a manslaughter conviction a decade ago in death of a Saskatoon teenager.
He was one of three men found guilty in the May 2011 death of 16-year-old Delano Toto.
Toto was attacked after being involved in an altercation with people connected to a gang.
Lavallee, who already had an extensive criminal record at that point, was 23 and on probation at the time Toto was attacked with makeshift weapons and a hammer.
The Crown argued a 10-year manslaughter sentence was appropriate because Lavallee had a lengthy record for numerous assault charges, Toto was intoxicated and vulnerable at the time, and the attack was pre-planned.
Lavallee ended up being sentenced to seven-and-a-half years after time served in pre-trial custody.
The weapon from Monday’s attack has not been found and police believe it may be at a home or business near the crime scene.
On Friday, police said investigators were looking for the public’s help to find the machete. The weapon is described as a “Kukri” style knife, (pictured above.)
If the long knife is found, witnesses are asked not to touch it and to immediately call the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone.
Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.
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