Three year old murder of Zdzislaw (Jim) Kutyla solved, Burnaby

After a 3 year investigation into the murder of Burnaby resident Zdzislaw(Jim) KUTYLA (Koo til ah), IHIT investigators arrested a 22-year-old Burnaby man in connection to the homicide, the man faces a second degree murder charge.

On March 1, 2008 at approximately 10:00 AM Burnaby RCMP received a call regarding a deceased male in a residence at the 8200 block of 19th Avenue. A family member of the deceased had returned home to discover the adult Caucasian male deceased inside of the family home. Upon police arrival the death was determined to be suspicious.

The victim was identified as 51-year-old Zdzislaw(Jim) KUTYLA (Koo til ah) of Burnaby.

Early on in the investigation it was determined that this homicide did not appear to have links to gangs, drugs or organized crime. Investigators continued to move forward on tips and information gathered over the last three years.

After a number of submissions were sent to the lab for analysis, an unknown DNA profile was identified. Police continued their investigation employing a series of investigative tactics and ultimately identified a person of interest.

The investigation continued with a focus on the person of interest, once additional information was gathered that person became a suspect.

On Friday May 6, 2011, investigators from the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team arrested 22-year-old Steven Roy LAXON of Burnaby. LAXON was not known to police prior to his arrest on May 6th.

Investigators are now able to say that this is not related to gangs, drugs or organized crime with all certainty. This incident would be categorized as a domestic related homicide, the suspect and the victim were known to each other.

LAXON is expected to be appearing today in Vancouver Court to face a charge of second degree murder.