A man found dead in a Langley Township house on Monday morning and the man charged with his murder were friends, a police spokesperson said Wednesday.
The victim has been identified as 40-year-old Cloverdale resident Cole Adam Manning.
The suspect, 24-year-old Jason Terrence Brewer, has been charged with second degree murder.
He is said to be known to police.
The accused made a brief appearance before a Surrey Provincial Court judge Wednesday afternoon and was ordered held in custody until Jan. 16.
Brewer, an athletic-looking, clean-shaven man with short dark hair, was wearing a white long-sleeved dress shirt rather than the usual red prison garb when he was brought into court by a Sheriffs' officer.
He appeared to smile and wave in the direction of a young woman sitting by herself in the public seating area of the courtroom near the back.
The woman, who appeared upset and agitated, walked out of the chamber immediately once Brewer was escorted back into custody, roughly five minutes after he entered.
A small group of people sitting together also left the courtroom after Brewer was ordered held in custody.
One of them, a woman, appeared to be in tears.
“The victim and suspect are believed to be friends," said Sgt. Jennifer Pound, speaking for the regional Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).
The motive for the murder is still under investigation, Pound added, but police have ruled out gang involvement.
Langley RCMP were called about a body in a basement of a house in the 19800 block of 69 Avenue around 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 31.
Police said a suspect was quickly identified and an alert was issued.
A man was arrested on 264 Street near 48 Avenue in Aldergrove less than two hours later by police from Abbotsford and RCMP from Langley.
There was what IHIT Insp. Amrik Virk called a "short" pursuit that ended with police vehicles forcing the suspect's vehicle off the road.
At least one cruiser, an RCMP vehicle, was damaged, Virk said.
Virk said police would like to thank members of the general public who offered to use their personal airplanes to assist with locating the suspect.
"We called the Langley airport and we asked for any aircraft or helicopters that were in the air that could assist us," Virk told reporters.
"We had a number of calls from owners of private aircraft ready to take off and ready to assist us and we had a helicopter that was doing some surveying work very close to the area that assisted, that did spot the incident unfolding."
"(We had) people waiting actually at the airport with their own fuel, their own aircraft saying 'we're ready to take off, what do you want us to do?'"
The house where the body was discovered is located in a newer neighbourhood of recently-built homes.
At least one neighbour said it was a shared house.
Police tape surrounded the scene of the crime Monday.