A 23-year-old Olds man is charged with first-degree murder in relation to the death of an Airdrie man in January.
Dustin Piper was arrested without incident in Didsbury on March 16, police said.
He is accused of murdering Garland Curtis, 40, who was found dead in his Airdrie home on Jan. 12 after Airdrie RCMP conducted a welfare check following a call from one of Curtis' co-workers in Fort McMurray who had said his colleague had not been at work for a number of days.
Cpl. Colette Zazulak, a spokeswoman for the RCMP's K Division, said Piper and Curtis were friends and had known each other for a number of years.
Curtis' 1994 Saturn sedan was discovered abandoned at a business in Olds on Jan. 21 and police said the vehicle was driven here following the murder.
Police were asking any businesses and residents in Olds who had possibly seen Curtis' car between January 9 and 15, or anyone with security surveillance systems recording footage of local roadways, for assistance.
Zazulak said police from Olds, Airdrie, Red Deer, Fort McMurray, Calgary, Edmonton and New Brunswick, a province to which Curtis had ties, were involved in the murder investigation.
According to his Facebook and Linkedin pages, Piper attended Hugh Sutherland School in Carstairs from which he graduated in 2007.
He worked at McDonald's and Wal-Mart in Olds, as well as Future Shop in Red Deer, Penhold Summer Training Centre in Springbrook, East Side Marios in Calgary and a Carstairs construction company.
Piper's Linkedin page also states he won the silver Duke of Edinburgh award, which recognizes young people who develop a sense of responsibility to themselves and to their communities, and he served with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
In 2005, he took part in a CFB Cold Lake survival instructors course and his interests include gaming, movies, world culture, politics, history and human behaviour.
Arielle Viklund said Piper lived with her and her husband at their home in Olds last year from March to August.
She said RCMP interviewed her and her husband about Piper in January.
ìThey were just asking how we knew him, what he was like, what kind of person he was,î she said.
Viklund also worked with Piper at the Olds McDonald's restaurant and her husband was best friends with Piper in high school in Carstairs.
ìThey used to skip class together. They were tight.î
Viklund also said Piper was moving back and forth between Olds and Vancouver in recent years.
ìWe tried helping him get back up on his feet after he had moved from Vancouver last year,î she said.
The last time she saw him was in February when he was working at Sandy's Restaurant and Bar in Olds.
She described him as a person who kept to himself and said Piper had claimed he was bipolar.
ìI always sensed something uncomfortable about him.î
He was into online games such as World of Warcraft and Star Wars, Viklund added.
On his LinkedIn page, Piper indicated he wanted to achieve a bachelor of science, then pursue medical school at the University of British Columbia.
His ultimate goal was to become a neurosurgeon.
Piper is remanded in custody and will next appear in court in Airdrie on March 21.
In a media release, Inspector Tony Hamori, officer-in-charge of the RCMP's Airdrie detachment, said the arrest came thanks to the ìspecialized skill set and dedication of RCMP members throughout the province.î
ìThere were a lot of different pieces to put together in order to see the big picture, and our team of professionals have been working tirelessly on this case,î he said.
