A man charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a St. Albert teen was previously convicted of aggravated assault for breaking into a family’s home and stabbing a pregnant woman.
Kaj Alexander Randall, 28, is in custody after allegedly stabbing two teen girls in St. Albert last month.
The 17-year-old died from her wounds, upgrading Randall's charges to first-degree murder from attempted murder.
In 2016, Randall broke into a family’s home while the family was asleep, went upstairs and stabbed a woman multiple times in the back, according to a 2022 parole board decision.
The woman was asleep when Randall stabbed her, and the couple’s children were in the home at the time.
Randall also got into a physical altercation with a male victim in the house. That victim needed stitches afterwards.
The stabbing was the “direct result” of a $15,000 drug debt Randall incurred while he was selling cocaine, the decision says, although it does not say whether Randall had a personal connection to the victims.
Randall did not have a criminal record when he was charged with aggravated assault and breaking and entering for the 2016 crimes, but he admitted to selling drugs starting as a child.
The parole board decision says Randall was involved with “drug and gang subcultures.”
He was released on bail following the stabbing and did not reoffend while awaiting his sentence.
The document provides the parole board’s reasoning for revoking Randall’s statutory release, a type of release in which offenders finish their sentences in the community but that is not granted by the Parole Board of Canada.
Randall was denied parole in November 2020 but was released only three months later for his February 2021 legislated statutory release date.
In June 2021, Randall took a urine test that came back positive for cocaine and marijuana. He was also spotted drinking at a restaurant with friends. For these reasons, he went back to jail in September 2021.
He was released again on May 9, 2022, his second statutory release date, on conditions not to take unprescribed drugs, not to drink alcohol, not to associate with anyone involved in a gang, to follow a substance abuse treatment plan and to remain employed.
After the second release, he moved in with his girlfriend and found a full-time job.
But in August 2022, police identified Randall as a witness in a July 2022 attack involving a machete.
Randall said he was friends with the victim of the attack, and he told correctional services that he was not involved.
Police later told correctional services that Randall had been at a party with drugs, alcohol and a known gang member.
Randall said he did not know the gang member would be at the party. An argument broke out at the party, and Randall left with his friends to go back home. After returning home, Randall’s friend was attacked by the gang member, who was wielding the machete.
A urine test showed Randall did not consume drugs or alcohol.
“It is apparent to the board that you continue to struggle with an ability or willingness to abide by imposed conditions and that your risk increased to an unmanageable level,” the decision's author wrote.
At the time when his statutory release was revoked, Randall had less than a month left on his sentence.
Randall was transferred to minimum security in November 2018, roughly one year after the start of his sentence.
But in 2019, he was sent back to medium security as a “result of problematic institutional behaviour for possession of contraband and intimidation,” the decision says.
The decision’s author notes that Randall was raised by his mother and that Randall’s father was “present.”
“You had few positive friends, and the majority of your associates were involved in drug use and criminal activity,” the document’s author wrote. “You developed few living skills and remained heavily dependant (sic) on your mother for support, with financial dependence on her. You admit to becoming increasingly disconnected for the community. You did not complete your education and have limited employment history. You were exposed to substances at a young age by your father and continued to use marijuana and eventually experimented with alcohol and cocaine. Despite the apparent impacts, you minimize the impacts on your life.”
Randall's next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 12 in St. Albert.
