By Nigel Maxwell

Grieving family

P.A. murder victim remembered as loving father, and passionate cook

Feb 19, 2019 | 5:03 PM

As the Prince Albert Police service investigates the city’s first homicide of 2019, the family of the deceased is speaking out, hoping someone may have information on a suspect.

Cody McAdam, 27, was stabbed early in the morning of Feb. 9. According to police, the assault happened in an alley of the 200 block of 12th St. E. McAdam succumbed to his injuries nearly a week later in a Saskatoon hospital.

(Facebook/ Cody McAdam)

Kayla Bird, the mother of McAdam’s one and three-year-old daughters, told paNOW she visited him in hospital, where he was on life support.

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“I took my two daughters over there and not even one minute after I went in, I started crying. But I talked to him and said my goodbyes,” she said.

Bird said she and McAdam had had a falling out last December and haven’t talked since. She said McAdam loved to do housework, was an excellent cook and family man.

“He was a great father and I could say he was very loving. He always protected us and he always cared for us,” she said.

Bird said the incident in Prince Albert took her by complete surprise, given McAdam told her he left the gang lifestyle and was focused on turning his life around.

Betty Ann Bird is Kayla’s mother and said she thought of McAdam as a son. She said she knew something was wrong because McAdam typically messaged her via Facebook to check on his daughters.

“He’d say ‘Give her a kiss and a hug for me’ every time he inboxed me so I’ll be doing that for the rest of my life,” she said.

(Facebook/ Cody McAdam)

Freda Durocher was McAdam’s foster mother at Muskoday First Nation and knew him since he was one month old. She said her final conversation with him was the day before he was stabbed.

“Friday afternoon was when he left and when he left he said ‘Hey mom I’ll see you, I love you and I’ll be back.’ And of course the police phoned me Saturday morning and let me know what happened,” she said.

Durocher described McAdam as a happy guy, who loved to joke around. She confirmed Bird’s comments that he used to be involved in gangs and drugs but chose to leave that life. Prior to the assault, McAdam was planning a return to school for commercial cooking.

“It’s hard to understand. I never even realized how serious it was until we went down to see him,” she said. “We were there with him when he [died],” she said.

The wake service for McAdam is scheduled to take at Whitefish First Nation, but a date has not been set pending the autopsy.

Last week, a spokesperson from the Prince Albert Police Service said the incident remains under investigation. Officers encourage anyone with information to come forward.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell