Two U.S. murder suspects who were arrested in Abbotsford on Wednesday night have now been charged.
Kevin David Patterson, 20, and Christopher John Shade, 18, were each charged Friday in the U.S. with first-degree murder, robbery in the first degree and theft of a motor vehicle.
The two are accused of using shovels to bludgeon Richard Bergesen, 57, to death in his home in Sammamish, Wash., according to King County prosecutors.
The accused then allegedly stole the victim's credit cards and 2013 BMW 328 sedan and fled to Canada, driving under a barbed wire fence on a road north of Spokane.
Their bail on the murder charges is set at $2 million.
Meanwhile, the pair remain in custody in B.C., where they were each charged late Thursday with one count of possession of stolen property over $5,000.
Abbotsford Police Const. Ian MacDonald said the matter is still under investigation and other charges could be laid against the two.
On Thursday, he said charges of credit card fraud and illegally crossing the border were also under consideration.
MacDonald said Shade is a U.S. citizen, apparently from Texas, and it is believed that Patterson has dual citizenship.
Patterson is due back in Abbotsford provincial court on Wednesday, Sept. 24 for a bail hearing, while Shade is slated to appear on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The King County Prosecutors Office is working with the U.S. Justice Department's office of international affairs to have the defendants returned to the U.S. to face charges.
According to U.S. court documents, Patterson told King County detectives that there was "no way" Canada would send him back to the U.S.
Patterson and Shade were arrested at a hotel in Abbotsford on Wednesday night after U.S. authorities tracked the BMW to Abbotsford from the vehicle's GPS device.
Earlier that day, the King County Sheriff's Office in Washington issued a public alert that Patterson was a suspect in a homicide that had taken place at about 11 a.m. at a home in Sammamish, a community east of Seattle with a population of almost 46,000.
Police had arrived at the home to investigate reports of an altercation, and they found Bergesen's body.
A few hours later, the KCSO announced they were looking for Patterson and a 2013 blue BMW belonging to the victim.
On Thursday morning, they confirmed that Patterson had been arrested in B.C. and the BMW had been recovered.
Patterson's Facebook page indicates that he lived in Penticton, Westbank and Surrey, B.C. as a young child before moving to Sammamish in 1997 and then to Redmond, Wash. in 2012.
U.S. court documents indicate that Patterson was homeless at the time he met Bergesen, a manager at Boeing, through a church pastor.
Bergesen offered Patterson a place to stay about a year ago and helped him take other positive steps in his life, according to the documents.
Patterson's criminal history includes convictions for assault, theft, criminal trespass, identity theft and forgery, according to U.S. court documents.