GUADALAJARA, Mexico – One man is under arrest and another is being sought by police in connection with the grisly slaying of two Canadian seniors at a popular retirement spot in Mexico.

Jalisco state Attorney General Luis Najera says the man under arrest is the brother of a labourer who worked near the home of 84-year-old Edward Kular and 72-year-old Nina Discombe.

Mexican authorities have said a gardener found the couple in a pool of blood on Sunday in the living room of the house where they’d lived for at least six months.

Najera alleges the two suspects broke into the home outside Guadalajara City to rob it early Sunday morning. He believes the Canadians were awake and recognized one of the intruders.

Officials have said Kular was beaten on the head with a small statue while Discombe was stabbed in the stomach with a kitchen knife.

Najera says police are searching for the labourer in a nearby state while his brother has been charged with murder.

A relative of Kular has said the Toronto man’s death is like a “a bad nightmare” for his family.

Discombe was from Ottawa but had purchased a home in Mexico to live there full-time, said Barbara Wills, a friend who lives in the community of Ajijic.

The area is popular among snowbirds and several who knew the couple said they were in shock.

— with files from The Associated Press