There are many signs that indicate Slave Lake is beginning to resemble much larger urban centres. A growing population, a modern business park complete with requisite Wal-Mart, and now, murder.
Forty-year-old Anthony Fraser, of no fixed address, was found dead on the evening of Friday, Nov. 4, 2005 behind Northern Lakes College in Slave Lake. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a beating Fraser suffered on Halloween night.
On the next morning, Tuesday, Nov. 1, Fraser was found lying unconscious and bleeding at the bottom of the stairs leading to the offices of Cat Country CKWA radio.
“I got to work at 5:00 and he was sleeping at the bottom of the stairs,” says Ryan Vanderwal, the station’s news director. “He was snoring, so I thought he was OK. When I saw the blood, I was concerned. I went upstairs and waited for Tyler (Russell, his co-worker). Then we called the cops. They finally showed up after about an hour.”
Fraser was treated for his injuries at the Slave Lake hospital and released the same day. A photo taken that day (apparently at the hospital) shows him with a badly swollen eye, plus other cuts and bruises.
Three days later he was dead. At press time, police were still trying to find out who was responsible for the beating.
Roy and Rose Bladen are clergy in the Slave Lake Salvation Army and manage the Thrift Store and The King’s Kitchen. They came to know Mr. Fraser quite well over a period of about a year-and-a-half and the news of his death has devastated them.
“Tony was a real teddy bear, a pussycat,” says Roy. “He was a real friend. He would come to the soup kitchen for lunch and we would give him a sandwich to go. But he would never ask for anything. He never abused the service here. People need to change the way they think about people like Tony.”
“It’s almost like a brother died,” says Rose. “He was very polite and appreciative. I don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt him. He lived with us for five days and became a member of our family.” Rose is referring to an attempt on Fraser’s part to overcome his alcoholism. He stayed with the Bladens as efforts were made to enroll him in a treatment program in High Prairie. He signed up for a 28-day stint but by the end of October he had returned to Slave Lake unable to kick the habit.
Mr. Fraser’s father lives in Saskatchewan and told police that he would be claiming the body. By Thursday afternoon, it was believed he was in Edmonton but could not be reached for comment.
The RCMP is requesting the public’s assistance in this investigation. Any information regarding the assault on Fraser or about people who interacted with him between Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 is welcome.
“We’re hoping that people will remember seeing him,” says Cpl. Scott Buchanan of the Slave Lake detachment. “When you see someone with a badly swollen eye like that, you tend to remember it. It’s a pretty distinguishing mark.”
Buchanan says Fraser was seen walking around town on Friday, and the autopsy indicated he had not been dead long when college security personnel found his body that evening.
Employees of the college were upset to learn that somebody had been found dead in their ‘back yard,’ but aren’t overly concerned about security, says science instructor and Town councillor Rob Irwin. He routinely sees people like Fraser in the woods that surround the college.
“I walk to work many days,” says Irwin. “I’ve never had any problems with these people.”

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