Woman charged in Friday-night murder

The name of a man murdered Friday night in Taber has been released.

An autopsy was conducted Monday morning in Calgary and the medical examiner has reported 47-year-old Howard Sakebow, of Taber, succumbed to his injuries as a result of a stab wound he sustained to his upper chest.

After consulting with the Crown, the Taber Police Service has charged a 28-year-old woman, Trina Michelle Thomas of Taber, with one count of second-degree murder. She has been remanded into custody until April 22 after an appearance by CCTV yesterday in Taber provincial court.

Insp. Graham Abela of the Taber Police Service said the circumstances which led to the stabbing met the criteria for the charge, under the Criminal Code.

It was during the late-evening hours Friday when three adults were sitting around a kitchen table in an apartment drinking beer when an argument ensued, according to police. That argument led to a pushing match, which was broken up.

Shortly thereafter, the accused grabbed two kitchen knives in each hand and swung at the victim, fatally wounding him in the chest. As no phone was in the house, one of the adults ran to a local tavern and called 9-1-1. When police arrived, they observed the victim on the floor, and Trina Thomas was arrested in the apartment hallway without incident as three officers attended the call.

Police attempted CPR on the victim until EMS arrived and pronounced the victim deceased. Several knives were seized by investigators, including what police believe to be the murder weapon. Next of kin was notified early Saturday morning.

“The accused and the victim knew each other, and have known each other for some time,” said Abela, who added it was not a romantic relationship.

A young child, who belonged to Thomas, was at the residence at the time, and was taken into the care of Children’s Services.It all took place downtown in Sakebow’s residence, located in the 5200 block of 48th Avenue.

“The accused lives in another apartment in Taber. She was just visiting,” said Abela, who added the third person at the scene Friday night, an adult man, was not involved in the incident.

And while no community wants to witness a serious incident like this within its boundaries, Abela was quick to point out Friday night represented an isolated incident.

“From a local perspective, what I’d like to reiterate is Taber is a safe place to live,” said the inspector, who added this is the first time the community has witnessed violence like this in a very long time. “These people knew each other, and this wasn’t a stranger crime.”

According to Abela, one incident should not undermine Taber.

“I don’t want this to be seen as a black eye to our community. Taber should be proud of its low crime rate. This is an anomaly,” said Abela. “The public is safe, this is a one-off incident, and the person who we believe committed this offence is in custody (and has been charged). Taber is a safe place — the last homicide we had was in 1999.”