Michael Labinjo: Ex-NFL linebacker's death investigation reopened after championship rings stolen

Police are trying to determine if death was intentional and used to facilitate theft of his personal items

Michael Labinjo's championship rings were found to missing from his home after he died in September 2018. The discovery of the theft has prompted the reopening of an investigation into his death. (Calgary Police Service)

Canadian police have reopened the investigation into the 2018 death of a former NFL and CFL linebacker after new evidence emerged.

Michael Labinjo was found dead in his Calgary home in September 2018. The death of the 38-year-old, six-foot tall, 241-pound defensive end was not deemed suspicious at the time, and he was believed to have died in his sleep.

However, his family noted that several personal items and pieces of sports memorabilia were missing from the house. A theft investigation confirmed that these items had been stolen.

Security video footage showed four individuals entering and exiting the building, prompting the Calgary Police Service to look into both the theft and death, The Globe and Mail reports.

“Through testing with the medical examiner’s office and through other information that we’ve received, we’ve now looked at the totality of circumstances surrounding Michael’s death and are investigating this as a suspicious death,” Calgary Police Staff Sergeant Michael Schiavetta said on Monday.

“What we’re trying to determine is if Michael’s death was intentional and if that intentional death was used to facilitate the theft of his personal items.”

Among the items taken were the championship rings from his football career which have his last name engraved on the side.

The Toronto native and Michigan State graduate, played two seasons in the NFL. He played with the Eagles in the 2004/05 season when the team won the NFC Championship and lost to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

In 2005, he divided the season between the Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts, before returning to Canada to play for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL from 2007 to 2010. In 2008 the team won the Grey Cup.