Man dies in apparent sword fight
Pair found in blood-soaked apartment, says brother; one medevaced to Edmonton
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, December 17, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The brother of a man who died after he was found unconscious in a downtown apartment unit early Sunday morning said he now believes his brother may have died in a sword fight.
John Wifladt
Colin Digness |
Tommy Wifladt of Ndilo said he's been told by two different people, one of them a nurse, that his brother John Wifladt, 39, died after he was stabbed through the heart in a unit at the Sunridge Place apartments on 51A Avenue early Sunday morning. However, Wifladt said all the RCMP has told him so far is that his brother died from his injuries.
"Two officers came to my house on Sunday and said that John had been found in the Sunridge Place apartments and that he was dead of severe injuries," he said. "They never said anything about another man in the apartment."
Yellowknifer has now confirmed that the other man is Colin Digness, described by his brother as being in his early 40s. He was medevaced to hospital in Edmonton where his brother, Louis Mandeville, said Digness was listed in stable condition on Tuesday.
"He was good friends with John Wifladt and I'm being kept in the dark by RCMP as to what exactly happened, and that's all I can say," said Mandeville.
Wifladt said he has now heard that someone who lives at Sunridge Place found the two men unconscious in Digness's blood-soaked apartment early Sunday morning.
"They told me either one or two swords were found in the same room as the men," Wifladt said.
"Colin was apparently stabbed through the eye. All I can say is I'd rather my brother have died in a fight with one of his good friends than being attacked by some punk."
Wifladt said it is frustrating the RCMP aren't sharing any more information with him or his family. "What they said was that they won't be releasing any more information to us until an autopsy is done and the cause of death is determined."
In a news release issued Monday, RCMP Const. Elenore Sturko stated the Mounties' major crimes unit is investigating the incident. She wrote that at about 5 a.m. Sunday, RCMP responded after receiving a report of two unconscious males. Officers attended the scene and located the two men, both suffering from serious injuries, she stated. Both men were transported to Stanton hospital where one died. The other man was medevaced to Edmonton due to the severity of his injuries.
Two plainclothes and one uniformed officer were posted at various times in front of unit 323 at the Sunridge Place apartments at 5603 – 51A Avenue. An RCMP vehicle remained in front of the building as late as Tuesday morning. Police have not confirmed they are treating the death as a homicide, nor have they said anything about a weapon.
Wifladt said he was out with his brother and Digness for drinks on Saturday night.
"We were together earlier in the evening and then I went without them to a different bar," said Wifladt.
"I saw the two of them later on Range Street after the bars let out. They said they were going to a party in Ndilo. I chose not to join them and just went home. That's the last time I saw my brother alive," he said.
Digness was into martial arts but Wifladt said he didn't know if he had any swords in his apartment. "I've seen a photo of him on Facebook with a sword, or swords, but other than that I don't know if
he had a sword in his apartment," Wifladt said.
He said his brother was a great guy who would give people the shirt off his back.
"You couldn't meet a nicer guy. He owned a house. He had a steady diamond processing job. He played the guitar really well. Me and my family, my two sisters and my parents are just shocked and devastated," he said.
Wifladt said his father and sister had driven from their home in Devon, near Edmonton, to Yellowknife on Monday.
Cathy Menard, the NWT chief coroner, said an forensic autopsy on Wifladt's body was being done in Edmonton on Tuesday.
"The body will be released to the family once it's completed," Menard said. "We may get some preliminary results ... by later in the week," said Menard.
