RCMP seek clues in NV murder Three suspects sought in death of Filipino sailor THE NORTH Vancouver RCMP are seeking public assistance following the murder Thursday night of a Fili- ’ pino sailor in North Vancouver. “We have the potential for 100 witnesses,’ said North Vancouver RCMP Sgt. Randy Bennett. Two sailors, in port with a ship delivering salt .to a local chemical plant, took shore leave Thursday night and went to see a strip show atthe Coach House Inn with another Filipino sailor and an ex- sailor, alsa: from the Philippines, but_ who now. resides in Van- _ couver. ““We believe there were many : people in the bar that night who . may very well have seen the suspects with the victims and may By Michael! Becker News Reporter 9 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Thursday night. The victims and suspects sat be- tween the bar and the stage, in a row of seats lining the stage. Two of the Filipino men left the bar earlier that night. The two victims were offered a ride back to their ship by their three new “friends.’’ But instead of return- ing to the ship, the pair were POLICE SKETCHES of two of the three suspects sought in the _murder of the Filipino sailor. very well know who they are. If they were even in the bar, (they should) still come forward so that .we can determine where they were sitting. Maybe they saw something ‘that’s important — even if they don’t think it was important,”’ Bennett said. Police. believe the two sailors were befriended by three suspects .. while at the Coach House between taken to a forested area near 26th Street and Lioyd Avenue. Said Bennett, ‘‘The assauit is ' believed to have initially started ‘on the roadway. One guy was assaulted. His associate friend ran with somebody in pursuit. The one guy that remained was robbed of his money and beaten.”’ See Suspects page S NEWS photo Mike Wakefield BRIDGE HOUSE owner Lutz Wolff believes that the building his restaurant is in continues to be home to the spirit of Elizabeth Rebbeck MacEachran. The woman lived in it for only a few months (in 1934) before dying after a short illness. The Haunting North Vancouver’s Bridge House Restaurant plays hest to ghost STRANGE FOOTSTEPS echo through the quaint restau- rant. A bottle of wine drops to the floor, crushing cakes in . its path. Wine glasses and teaspoons vanish and reay:pear. A security alarm activitates regularly at night, without: ap- parent cause. With no one near, a dishwashing machine turns on to cleanse phantom dishes. Surely all such occurrences are foed service stock in trade. Brt in the rustic old house across the road from the laughing bridge in a place called Capilano, such incidents may likely be a matter of spirited, unfinished business, Four years ago Bridge House Restaurant manager Lutz Wolff did not believe in ghosts. When he took on the job at the site of the Capilano Suzpension Bridge he, too, heard the apocryphal stories about the haunting of the house. Staff who had worked in the building when it was known as the Hobbit House restaurant told of hearing footsteps in the empty restaurant at night. Edgemont Village: What a riot! 25th anniversary of infamous Halloween riot TWENTY-FIVE years ago, North Vancouver played host to a wild Halloween riot at Edge- mont Village. - Headlines of the day had North Van vandals battling Mounties. What began as a crowd of teens tossing firecrackers and smashing eggs eventually escalated into a three-hour bat- tle between police and firefighters. Of an estimated 1,000 teens that had gathered along Edgemont Boulevard, 40 were eventually arrested. Shops were looted and damaged. For- ty-five windows were smashed and several fires were set. Acting reeve at the time, North .Vancouver resident Roy Whittle was called to the scene when trouble started. “Things were getting pretty By Michael Becker News Reporter wild so we decided to call ‘the RCMP riot squad out and we eventually got the fire hoses out right in Edgemont Boule- * vard because they were starting to vandalize the business pro- perties. Chief Bob McDonald and I drove around the build- ings and alleyways and there were young guys setting fires in the garbage containers — they were just raising hell,’’ Whittle remembers. Whittle said radio news broadcasts by local stations added fuel to the fire as teens from other areas of Vancouver heard of the disturbance. “We eventually tried to get the police to stop the move- ment of the kids across the two bridges,’’ he said. The situation was eventually cooled down by firefighters who drenched. the crowd with cascades of water from fire hoses. Said Whittle, ‘‘The fire department eventually chased them out of there. As long as you are on the right side of the fire hoses and clubs you’re in good shape. They picked the worst ones out and took them to the fire hall. “I have never seen anything like that before or since.”” Whittle says there is no easy - answer regarding the cause of the riot. - “I think it was just another form of exuberant protest on the part of the youngsters. The theory employed following that was to create a form of (Hal- loween) entertainment in the various centres, and for years ! thought that was successful,’’ he said. ‘and managed —— By Michael Becker News Reporter Some simply refused to be alone in the house. But said Wolff, “I felt very comfortable here even though | was in here alone for the first three months while we were doing renovations. I said to everybody if there is a ghost, the ghost ob- viously likes me. “Let’s put it this way — I’ve never been a - believer in’ the supernatural. Afier four years | have become a believer that there is something. Now I have never seen an apparition in a white bed- sheet floating around ~— but the weirdest things happen,’’ he add- ed. Wolff believes that the house continues to be home to the spirit of Elizabeth Rebbeck MacEachran. The woman lived at : the popular Capilano Suspension Bridge and tea house tourist attraction for 25 years before the Second World War. As recounted in Eleanore Dempster’s book The Laughing Bridge, MacEachran’s husband Mac built the house on property located across from the bridge in 1934. She lived in the three- bedroom house for only a few months before dying ‘‘after a short illness.”’ Wolff says she died in an area of the restaurant that once was a small bedroom. Wolff remembers how four years ago a lively bottle of wine made its presence felt near the spot. “We were all standing there, everything was packed with wine next to the cash register. Out of the top shelf a bottie of wine fell and landed right in a cake display and splattered me and the staff — for no reason. It had been lodged in. We couldn’t move the other bottles. We don’t know how it came out,” he said. On a night two years ago Wolff sent his staff home and stayed behind in the resiaurant alone to complete some paperwork. , Ail ‘doors were locked. While in an office downstairs he heard footsteps from above. He search- ed and found no one. Said .Wolff, *‘But then I saw that swinging door into the kitch- en move. So I followed behind and then I saw the other swinging door going out to the front door move. ‘ “So I thought somebcdy is playing games with me here. So I ran around, trying to catch whoever was not there. Then J started to think, this is weird so I shecked under the tables everything. I made sure that e-erything was locked and I went back downstairs. I felt a little un- comfortable,’’ he said. As he sat down to his work, he agairi heard footsteps. He « climbed the stairs to in- vestigate. “I grasbed the .biggest kitchen knife and 1 went arcund and J ‘turned on ali the lights. And I ‘walked by vhe picture window and I'm thinking what if somebody sees me walking around with this knife: — they'll think. Pve flip- ped,’’ Wolff said. “So i put the knife down, left all the lights on, put on the alarm and I just got- out of there,’? he said. And there was the time ‘volff brought his then 17-year-old daughter to the restaurant to work a shift. They were early and the place was empty. ; “I went in and turned the alarm off. She sat by the coffee pot. She’s sitting here all alone and the dishwasher turns itself on. You have to fill it and press a button to turn it on. She got scared and didn’t move from the table. I came back and she was sitting there white as a sheet,’’ Wolff id said. : Is the Bridge House haunted? Said author Eleanore Dempster, “At this point in time I can’t say. I have a very open mind about these kinds of things and until Y’ve talked to people at the bridge who have experienced the presence, I’m not about to give any opinion.” Said Wolff, “I feel very ‘com- fortable with Elizabeth.’*