No foul play suspected in shed fire
By Lethbridge Herald on July 22, 2023.
Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald
No evidence exists that foul play was involved in the death of a 33-year-old Lethbridge man whose body was found last Friday in a storage shed behind the McDonald’s restaurant location on University Drive West.
Lethbridge police said Friday that the investigation is ongoing, however.
On July 14, police responded to a report that workers from a restoration firm found a body inside the shed which had been damaged in a fire days earlier. The workers were there to provide remediation services.
Autopsy reports suggest the man – whose identity is not being released – was in the shed at the time of the fire late at night on July 3. Police say McDonald’s workers at about 11 p.m. reported the shed was on fire.
Fire and Emergency staff attended to the blaze and extinguished it.
Staff reported the shed had been the target of a break-in that morning after the lock was discovered broken off. They were awaiting a locksmith to replace it.
Fire crews deemed the blaze suspicious and notified police and the LFES Fire Prevention Bureau.
Because of the location of the victim and the amount of debris in the shed, the body wasn’t discovered by the fire department during its preliminary investigation.
Cause of death is undetermined, said police, pending toxicology results that aren’t expected to be available for several months.
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