EPS couldn't arrest Justin Bone because RCMP dropped him off in Edmonton: McFee

Police in Edmonton apologized Thursday for an incorrect statement made after two men were killed in Chinatown, but the service maintains officers had no grounds to arrest Justin Bone before the attacks happened.

Bone, 36, has been charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of Ban Phuc Hoang, 61, and Hung Trang, 64, on May 18.

Last week it became known that RCMP dropped Bone off in Edmonton, despite his bail conditions not to be in the city.

On Thursday, Edmonton Police Service Chief Dale McFee revealed that his officers had no contact with Bone after he was brought to Edmonton, contrary to an initial EPS statement that said officers "interacted with" the man.

McFee confirmed an RCMP officer called EPS to alert it that they brought Bone to the city from Parkland County on May 15 because there was nowhere else to take him. That officer also sent an alert on a shared policing system.

Bone was dropped off near a social service agency near 156 Street and Stony Plain Road.

McFee also confirmed that a roommate of Bone called EPS as well to warn them that he could be a danger to the public.

"When the RCMP granted permission for Mr. Bone to be in Edmonton, the EPS lost any ability to breach Mr. Bone for being in Edmonton," McFee said at a police commission meeting.

"However, if EPS officers found the subject breaching other conditions like a curfew police could detain him. This did not occur."

McFee said Bone was in touch with his probation officer prior to his arrest and that the accused had been staying with a friend in Edmonton up to the morning of the killings. The chief said he does not know if Bone's bail conditions had been amended to allow him to stay in Edmonton.

"I would like to correct the idea that a breach of bail automatically results in a charge or an arrest in most situations. This is generally not the case," McFee said.

He added that EPS in recent years has "actively reduced" the number of arrests that officers make for breaching conditions because that can have a "disproportionate impact on our vulnerable community."

McFee said he met with the families of the victims and he again expressed condolences.

He said the homicide investigations are ongoing and more information is likely to come out in court.

Mounties are reviewing the process of bringing Bone to Edmonton and McFee said he is looking forward to that outcome.

"We need to figure out how did this come about and how it could have been dealt with differently," McFee said.

While taking questions from reporters after the meeting, the chief was also asked about whether he tried to leverage the homicides to argue for more police funding.

"That's crazy. First of all, we were in the budget on the 18th, that's the day this happened. So I just find that disheartening that someone would try to spin it that way. That's not the case," McFee said.

A spokesperson for Alberta’s solicitor general said last week that RCMP did not do anything criminal by bringing Bone to the city.