Oliver man charged with killing Belgian tourist
An Oliver man has been charged with the firstdegree murder of a 28year-old Belgian woman who was visiting Canada.
Detectives with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team say Sean McKenzie, 27, was arrested Friday in Oliver.
He spent the weekend in custody at the Penticton RCMP detachment and is due to appear Wednesday in court in Chilliwack.
IHIT spokesman Cpl. Frank Jang says McKenzie is linked to a white van found north of the community of Boston Bar on Aug. 22, near the area where the body of Amelie Sakkalis was found.
It’s unclear how long McKenzie lived in Oliver.
“As far as I know he was a current resident Oliver, that’s where the arrest took place,” Jang says.
“We know that he travelled extensively through the province for personal reasons and work reasons.”
Investigators believe he met Sakkalis as she was hitchhiking toward Vancouver from Penticton on the day she died.
Detectives are urging anyone who may have seen McKenzie, Sakkalis, or the two together, to speak to police.
Jang has not explained how Sakkalis died or why Crown lawyers laid the first-degree charge.
First-degree murder can apply when a homicide is planned and deliberate, or when death occurs during a sexual assault or kidnapping.
“We will be supporting the prosecution in the days ahead, but we are still open to speaking with people, especially if they have information on that particular day, Aug. 22,” Jang says.
“We are certainly not done with the investigation.”
Sakkalis’s family in Belgium has been informed of the arrest and has been kept up to date in the investigation.
“You can imagine the shock of receiving that news, made more difficult by the fact that it happened in a foreign land,'' says Jang.
He says the homicide team hopes news of thecharge will help the Sakkalis family heal.