Jordan Braun, 19, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Elmer Libertino, 34, on April 16, 2015.
A police officer on routine patrol found the body of Libertino lying in a pool of blood in Burnaby, east of Vancouver.
Libertino was from Itogon, Benguet in northern Philippines. The deceased was employed at Whole Foods Market in Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver.
The deceased was found dead from a gunshot wound, early morning on Apr. 16, in the middle of Moscrop Street and Smith Avenue.
Braun is known to police and had been previously charged with four counts of break and enter.
“After a review of the evidence, there’s nothing to suggest that Mr. Libertino and Mr. Braun were known to each other,” Integrated Homicide Investigation Team Cpl. Meghan Foster said on November 28.
“Investigators worked tirelessly to gather evidence and pursue investigative leads. The tenacious efforts of IHIT investigators, and their policing partners, have resulted in this positive outcome,” Foster said.
Libertino’s family said in a statement on November 28: “We are thankful for sharing the precious life of a dearest son, an amazing brother, a trusted friend, a great and loving father, and husband, Elmer, or Tootz as known to many, who was taken from us suddenly.
“Our hearts are irreparably broken, and our lives are forever altered for his untimely and tragic loss.
“He came to Canada with a great dream for himself, for his loving wife, and for his three smart and beautiful kids, but he was taken away so soon…he is dearly missed every day.
“On behalf of our family, we will be forever grateful to IHIT for their utmost dedication, commitment, and perseverance in helping us attain peace and justice. Words will never be enough to say how we appreciate everything they did “Thank you so much!”
“To all our relatives and friends who supported us in this challenging journey of our life, we appreciate all the help and prayers! We were able to bring him back “home”.
“Elmer’s passing is a reminder for all of us that life is precious and love is forever!”
Libertino also had two sisters in Canada, Maricris and Maribel.
Police investigators said at the time of Libertino’s murder that they were reaching out to the public in an effort to gain information about what may have happened to him.
“We believe Mr. Libertino travelled from Surrey in the early hours of the morning by public transit to the area of Kingsway and Boundary in Burnaby between 2 and 3 a.m. on April 16,” said Sgt. Stephanie Ashton.
“There may have been quite a few people on foot in the area of Moscrop and Smith around this time and we are asking those people to come forward to tell us if they saw anything including Mr. Libertino in the area.
“Finally, we believe that on the night of April 15, people engaging in an online geo-tagging game called Ingress were seeking a cache at the corner of Smith and Moscrop and we seek the help of anyone in the Ingress gaming community who may have been in the area around the time of Mr. Libertino’s death.
“Elmer Libertino has no criminal record, he has had no contact with police, and he has left behind a grieving family who want answers about what happened to their loved one,” Ashton said at that time.
Elmer Libertino was a father to three children.