Artist found dead after report of kidnapping near Lillooet

VANCOUVER — 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-year-old has rocked the tiny, unincorporated town of 400 people, about 70 kilometres 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.

Aylward’s property included a greenhouse where he had been growing marijuana for years — no secret to area residents, who said 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 midday Saturday before arriving at the property and finding the body of a man, whom 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,” Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said in a statement.

“This appears to be an isolated incident and investigators have no information to suggest that the greater public is at further risk.”

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.