On the night of Friday, October 3 2008, a Canadian couple, Trevor and Marisa, were out walking their dog in the quiet, suburban district of Mill Woods in Edmonton’s south, when a young, dark-haired man suddenly staggered into their path from the direction of a nearby alleyway. He was hunched over, his shirt was torn, and he had a large welt on his sweaty face. He collapsed and rolled around in what the couple thought was an overly theatrical manner, then stood up and screamed: “There’s a guy attacking me, he’s mugging me, please help me!” He cried out: “That’s the guy!” as a second, hooded man wearing a black hockey mask with gold markings emerged from the alleyway.

The man tapped his mask as though to adjust it, then slipped behind a fence. He peered over the top and called out to the injured man: “Come on Frank. Come back.” Though he sounded light-hearted and friendly, Trevor and Marisa felt uneasy. Suspecting the scenario was a set up to mug them, the couple hurried away as the disheveled stranger cried out: “Can you at least help get me to my car?”

Trevor wanted to help, but couldn’t shake his suspicion that it was a trap. He and Marisa rushed home, where they called the police. Officers were dispatched to the alleyway, but the two men were gone and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They monitored the situation over the coming days, but received no word from the alleged victim or further sightings of the assailant in the hockey mask.