Vernon RCMP confirmed late Monday morning they have arrested two people in connection to a homicide in July 2017.
After a 15-month investigation, police arrested a 40-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man, both of Vernon, on Friday without incident.
Jacqueline Nicole Leavins and Richard William Fairgrieve are both charged with second-degree murder.
The arrests follow last year’s death of 50-year-old Will Bartz.
Police were called to the Sundance Suites apartment building, where Bartz lived, on July 19, 2017 and his body was discovered inside one of the units.
Will Bartz’s sister Teresa Bartz was happy to hear of the arrests and charges.
“We’ve been waiting a long time to get this news so we were very glad that they had arrested two suspects,” Teresa said.
“Willy was a very good person, he was well liked and did not deserve to die like that.”
Bartz was a well-known volunteer at the Upper Room Mission soup kitchen in Vernon.
Teresa said her brother had lived in the Okanagan for around three decades.
She said that as a young adult, Bartz was in a serious crash while riding a bicycle and the collision left him permanently disabled.
“He was always helping others. Since his passing, I’ve had messages on Facebook, people telling me how much they realize how much he did around Vernon since he has been gone.”
RCMP said that the accused and the victim knew each other but couldn’t comment on the nature of their connection.
Police are not looking for any other suspects in relation to this case.
Both of the accused were held in police custody over the weekend.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
The case is scheduled to return to court on Thursday.
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