ARTIST KILLED
Home invasion and death of 71-year-old Zube Aylward stuns town of 400
A life lived as an eccentric artist who pursued his passions by building unique and out of the ordinary houses in B.C. came to a horrific end Saturday when Zube Aylward was killed at his Seton Portage home.
The killing of the 71-yearold has rocked the tiny, unincorporated town of just 400 people about a 70 km drive west of Lillooet. There, Aylward was known as a solitary but friendly man who lived with his wife Patricia at his remote and elaborately built home on the shores of Anderson Lake.
The front of his Highline Road home was adorned with a 10-foot-high stone and glass mushroom sculpture, reminiscent of his iconic Mushroom House, the 3,000-square-foot home he built in Whistler’s Emerald Estates that was inspired by the glacial formations found around Whistler.
His Seton Portage property also included a greenhouse where he had been growing marijuana for a number of years, which was no secret to area residents who say he occasionally hired locals to help tend to his crops.
Mounties would only say that they received a report of a kidnapping and suspicious death mid-day Saturday before arriving at the property and finding the body of a male, who they did not name.
“Due to the circumstances of this incident, the Southeast District Major Crime Unit has taken carriage of the investigation, and is being assisted by the Lillooet RCMP Detachment and the RCMP Southeast District Forensic Identification Services,” said Cpl. Madonna Saunderson in a news release.
“This appears to be an isolated incident and investigators have no information to suggest that the greater public is at further risk.”
But Seton Portage volunteer fire chief Frank Richings told Postmedia News that Aylward was the victim of a home invasion-style robbery, and that his wife, who is now staying in a Seton Portage hotel, narrowly escaped the assailants and alerted police.
Richings said Aylward was well established in the community for at least 15 years, and described his house as “quite fancy” with extensive stone work that reminded some of a European castle.
“I’ve only met him about four times. He seemed very nice. European and maybe a little eccentric,” Richings said. “I would definitely say he has money. All the work done around his place didn’t get done with no money. He lived quite isolated out there.”
The remote location of his home about 16 km from the town, his marijuana grow operation, and the appearance that he was a wealthy man could have made him a target, Richings said.
Aylward sold his Mushroom House in Whistler for a reported $3.5 million in 2007. It was a 25-year project for the artist and the interior was based on the anatomy of a tree, with a sauna in the roots and a bedroom in the second-level canopy.
Richings said Aylward’s marijuana crop likely exceeded 100 plants. It is not known where or to whom he was selling the pot.
He said police have provided very little information on the killing and unconfirmed reports about the gruesome nature of his death are being passed among residents.
“The town itself is sickened,” he said. “Even though you don’t know the guy that well, he seemed like a nice guy, pretty friendly.
“Quite a few people are upset. There is a lack of knowledge about what went on. A lot of people are concerned. Is this something we can expect again?”
Reached by phone, Aylward’s brother, Dale, declined to comment on his brother’s death.