IHIT investigators secured the area around the apartment after RCMP officers found a woman's body inside on Monday. (CBC)
Both the only suspect and the victim of a fatal stabbing in a Surrey, B.C., apartment on Monday were out on parole for prior murder convictions, according to police.
Homicide investigators said they believe the woman, 59, was stabbed to death inside the apartment she shared with her husband, Thomas Robert Elton, 54, in the Guildford neighbourhood, east of Vancouver.
Elton was arrested Monday for violating his parole conditions and remained in police custody on Tuesday while Crown prosecutors considered charges, police said.
"Elton was on parole in relation to a 1975 murder while incarcerated at Matsqui Prison," Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokesman Cpl. Dale Carr said in a statement released Tuesday morning.
Court records show Elton was serving a 2ВЅ-year sentence for armed robbery at the Fraser Valley prison when he stabbed another inmate to death. His criminal file includes a string of offences and convictions for violent crimes stretching back to his youth.
Police have not released the woman's name, but did say she was also on parole for a 1987 murder in nearby Burnaby, B.C.
Neighbours told CBC News on Monday that the couple had lived together in the apartment for several years. They said the woman had terminal cancer and other serious health issues.
