WEB UPDATE: Senior's murder arrest shocks neighbours
Jean Ann James, 69, who lives in this house with her husband Derek, was arrested Friday for first-degree murder in what police suspect was a love triangle that claimed the life of a Vancouver woman who was the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire.
By Martin van den Hemel - Richmond Review
Published: December 15, 2008 1:00 PM
Updated: December 17, 2008 10:11 AM
"That's absolutely absurd," one resident of a quiet residential area said at hearing the news that his neighbour Jean Ann James, 69, has been charged with first-degree murder.
"I'm stunned," said another. "It's overwhelming...but you don't really know somebody deep inside..."
"This is the biggest shock that I ever had," said a nearby resident, who entrusted James to watch over her house when she went out of town.
Described as an affable, animal-loving neighbour who along with her husband Derek invited friends and neighbours over for summer and Christmas parties, Jean James was arrested Friday following a multi-year investigation into the murder of James' friend, Gladys Wakabayashi, in 1992.
Wakabayashi, the 41-year-old daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire—he passed away a few years ago—was found stabbed to death in her upscale Vancouver home by her husband.
RCMP Const. Annie Linteau said James was a person of interest initially in the investigation.
But the case remained quiet for 16 years before news came of Friday's arrest. James is scheduled to appear in Vancouver provincial court on Thursday (Dec. 18) and remains in custody.
Investigators reportedly learned that Wakabayashi was having an affair with a married man, and that this man's wife learned of the affair a short time before the murder.
James was a long-time employee of Canadian Pacific Airlines, where she worked as a member of the executive for the Flight Attendants Union.
James and her husband, Derek, an air traffic controller, live in an unassuming two-storey cedar-roofed house on a half-acre property in the heart of Richmond. They have a son, who is in his late 20s.
According to neighbours, James loves to garden, and the couple adored animals, putting out seed for birds and other wildlife.
A sign hanging in the window alongside their front door depicts a cartoon with a Rottweiler catching a thief during a break-in, and wearing a t-shirt labelled "Surprise Surprise."
But it was neighbours who were surprised Monday morning by the news of James' arrest.
James was described as an easy-going, genuinely nice person who enjoyed sharing a laugh and spent a lot of time in her garden and assembling flower baskets
"They've been married for a long time," one neighbour said, referring to James and her husband Derek.
James enjoyed keeping an eye on her neighbourhood and wasn't afraid to speak her mind.
She voiced her objections at city hall in 2003 to a proposed development in her South McLennan neighbourhood.
When that residential project went ahead, she put up trees on the edges of her property, seeking privacy.
Linteau said only recently were police able to proceed further in the investigation, which eventually led to the charge being laid.
If convicted, James is facing a mandatory life sentence.
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