EDMONTON - Tenants in a Mill Woods home where a woman was killed last week say the man now accused of her murder seemed gentle and quiet.

Resident Allan Alabat, who has lived in the house since September, was at work when police arrived at the Millbourne Road bungalow on Wednesday afternoon and found the body of a middle-aged woman inside.

When Alabat came home around 5:30 p.m. the home, across the street from Malcolm Tweddle Elementary School, was swarming with police officers and investigators.

“It had already been cordoned (off),” he said Sunday. “I was so shocked.”

Irineo Odoy, the 59-year-old charged with second-degree-murder in connection with the woman’s death, lived at the home with Alabat and six other tenants.

Alabat said that Odoy was usually quiet and rarely spoke to the other tenants, except for a few occasions.

“He was generous and silent,” he said. Alabat described a time when he was cooking in the kitchen and Odoy offered some of his own food. “He seemed like a nice man.”

Alabat and other tenants at the home Sunday said they never met the woman who was found dead in the home. They said it was unusual for a woman to be in the basement because it’s where most of the male tenants in the home stay.

The homeowner, Arturo Divinagracia, said he has been busy cleaning the basement since police released the home back to him on Friday afternoon.

Several full garbage bags and pieces of furniture sat in a large pile next to the home.

Divinagracia said a priest was scheduled to visit the home Sunday afternoon to bless and cleanse it after the killing.

On Wednesday, Erwin Echavez arrived at the home soon after police did because his sister received a text message from their mother saying something was wrong. Echavez said his stepfather lived at the home.

He said the couple fought often and were separated but would sometimes see each other. The family moved to Canada from the Philippines two years ago, Echavez said.

An autopsy on the victim was scheduled for Friday afternoon and police have not released her identity. Her death is Edmonton’s ninth homicide of 2011.

mibrahim@edmontonjournal.com

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