Police renew request for Mazaj patrons to come forward after parking lot homicide

Police are again asking that patrons who visited a south Calgary restaurant the night a customer was killed in the parking lot contact them, in an effort to gather information about the homicide that could be significant.

Officers and EMS were called at approximately 11:20 p.m. on Friday to the parking lot of the Mazaj Lounge & Restaurant, at 9223 Macleod Trail S.W., after reports of a man in medical distress.

Soon after emergency crews arrived, Daniel Dudgeon, 32, was pronounced dead.

Police said Monday it's believed Dudgeon's death was a homicide, and that he spent some time inside the restaurant before he was killed.

However, police said in a Wednesday news release that in spite of previously asking for witnesses to come forward, they have heard from only one person who was a patron the night of Dudgeon's death.

Police are renewing their request that people who visited Mazaj after 7 p.m. on Feb. 19 contact police, even if they do not believe they witnessed anything noteworthy.

"We often see cases where multiple people have small pieces of seemingly insignificant information that become a critical lead when all the pieces are put together," said Staff Sgt. Colin Chisholm of the homicide unit.

"That is why it is so important that people don't decide for themselves what is worth telling us, because they might decide not to give us some information that could be the last piece we need for the puzzle to make sense."

The majority of these interviews would be brief and over the phone, the release said.

On Saturday, officers were seen at the parking lot searching for evidence, raking through a snowbank near where the body was found. 

Anyone who visited the restaurant on Friday between 7 p.m. and closing is asked to call the police non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 or the homicide unit's tip line at 403-428-8877.

Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous tips at 1-800-222-8477.