Police now say the woman found stabbed to death in Surrey, B.C., and her husband -- the man charged with her death -- are both convicted killers.
The body of 59-year-old Brenda Blondell was found in a suite at the Greenwood Garden Apartments in the 14800-block of 104th Ave shortly after noon Monday.
Her husband, 54-year-old Thomas Robert Elton, was arrested at the scene and has now been charged with second-degree murder.
Police now say the relationship between Blondell and her husband went deeper than husband and wife. The pair were both outspoken advocates of prisoner's rights, having both served time for murder.
Blondell was convicted of second-degree murder in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole until 2001.
At the time, prosecutors successfully argued she murdered one of her lesbian lovers. Blondell and another woman strangled Mya Kulchyski, and then sexually assaulted her to make it look like she had been raped, according to court documents.
Thomas Elton was also convicted of murder after killing a fellow inmate while he was incarcerated at the Matsqui Penetentiary in Abbotsford three decades ago. He was 21-years-old at the time.
"Mr. Elton was on parole in relation to a 1975 murder and we have no received a warrant and revoked his parole," Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said. "He's being currently being held on that parole revocation."
Carr says Blondell's death was not random.
Neighbours at the apartment complex tell CTV News Blondell was terminally ill with cancer and Elton had cared for her as her health deteriorated.
"He loved her very much," a neighbour identified as Robert said.
"They were crazy about each other. He did everything he could with her."
