First man charged with manslaughter in Edmonton fentanyl death pleads not guilty

Yarmey is accused of providing Kalich with the fentanyl that resulted in his death.

On Monday, court was told that a neighbour heard a loud thump from the floor below that afternoon. When the neighbour ran downstairs to investigate, he saw a body in the hallway.

The man, later identified as Kalich, was found lying on his back; his left arm had purple bruising, his fingers on his left hand were blackened, and the left side of his face was darkened and swollen as signs of lividity set in.

This kind of lividity, homicide detective Brian Robertson testified, usually occurs between six to 12 hours after death.

There was a small amount of blood around his mouth and nose.

Staff Sgt. Leanne Kilp testified that when she arrived at the scene shortly after 1:30 p.m., one of the first things she noticed was a “suspicious” odour.

“His general appearance told me he did not just expire in this location,” Kilp said.

She said Kalich wasn’t wearing any shoes, and his socks were clean, suggesting he hadn’t been walking around in his socks very much before his death.

One of his socks was partially pulled down, which Robertson said suggested he may have been dragged.

Later, court heard, officers recovered Kalich’s cellphone, hat, and shoes from Yarmey’s apartment, his front door just a few feet away from Kalich’s body.

Investigators also seized green pressed pills from the apartment, which later were determined to be fentanyl.

Kalich’s mother, Danuta Kalich, testified her son had been in rehab seeking help for drug use the weekend before his death.

After his release on Jan. 25, 2016, she said her son looked “better.”

Police charged Yarmey with manslaughter in connection to the overdose death as part of a crackdown on fentanyl, a potent opioid that killed 746 people in Alberta in 2018 alone.

According to provincial data, on average, two people in Alberta die of an accidental opioid overdose every day.

Yarmey’s trial is scheduled to continue for the next seven days.

Claire Theobald is an Edmonton-based reporter who covers crime and the courts. Follow her on Twitter: @clairetheobald