UPDATE: Man charged with Kelowna bus killing appears in court

KELOWNA – The Kelowna man charged with second degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of a passenger on a B.C. Transit bus appeared in Kelowna provincial court and has been remanded in custody.

Tyler Jack Newton, 23, went before a judge Monday morning.

Newton spent the weekend in jail following his arrest Friday night.

His lawyer told the court his client will not be seeking bail. Newton's next court appearance will be Nov. 20 by video from the Kamloops Correctional Centre. In the meantime, his lawyer will be getting up to speed on the case.

On Thursday, Oct. 30 at around 6:30 p.m., a 55-year-old passenger on the bus was attacked by another passenger, on Baron Road behind the Dilworth Shopping Centre. The victim was fatally stabbed and died at the scene.

RCMP Supt. Nick Romanchuk held a media conference the next day to say the police had a suspect and planned to make an arrest in the coming days.

Police arrested Newton hours later and on Saturday he was charged with murder.

Newton has been arrested and before the courts in Kelowna numerous times on drug and theft charges since he was 18 years old, court documents say.

Most recently, he was convicted in May 2014 of drug trafficking and breach of probation.

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To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

— This story was updated at 10:01 a.m., Monday, Nov. 3, 2014 to correct the accused's age and to add information about his first court appearance.