EDMONTON — The trail of blood droplets in the snow leads from the back door of a north-side boarding house, weaves back and forth down the alley, and ends in a pool of blood near a power pole on 127th Avenue.

Police said they found a half-naked man there suffering from stab wounds at about 2 a.m. Sunday. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Homicide detectives are now investigating, and have cordoned off the south end of the back alley between 118th Street and 119th Street on 127th Avenue.

The victim’s name is not being released pending notification of next of kin, said Staff Sgt. Mike Campeau, with EPS North Division. The death was classified as suspicious on Sunday night.

The boarding house is called Oberg Block. It has an old prairie-style false front and the date 1912 on the front. Bare light bulbs on stucco ceilings light the second storey.

The second floor has six rooms, each with a fridge, hotplate and single bed, “and that’s all,” said a woman who rents a suite on the main floor. “They all share a bathroom. It’s horrible up there.” She asked not to be named and already has half of her belongings packed, hoping to move soon to a safer building.

The building is always noisy, she said, and Saturday night was no exception. She stayed up all night watching TV, and heard nothing but the normal angry arguing of men’s voices.

At about 3 a.m., she estimates, she heard what sounded like several men yelling and kicking in a door. When she looked out, there were already several police and ambulance vehicles in street.

She watched police bring all of the men out from the second storey and interview them individually in several vehicles. Then, most of the men went back inside, but one middle-aged man was taken away in the back of an unmarked police car, she said. Police did not confirm if they had anyone in custody.

Later on Sunday, the woman tried to bring her garbage out and saw drops of blood along the path from the back door to the alley. An olive green ski-jacket lay discarded on the ground.

John Peterson, who lives several doors down 118th Street, also walked through the alley Sunday morning. It looked like someone leaned against the power pole and lost a lot of blood there, he said.

“Holy Georgina. It’ scary,” he said. “It was just soaked into the ground.”

With files from Mariam Ibrahim

estolte@edmontonjournal.com