ON February 2, 2009, Surrey RCMP attended a shots-fired call located at an apartment complex in the 13300-block of 105A Avenue and found 25-year-old James Ward Erickson dead from a gunshot wound.

In the initial stages there were persons of interest that were identified, but there wasn’t sufficient evidence to support charge approval.

In May 2013, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) Cold Case Team took conduct of this investigation and began a thorough and meticulous file review. Six months into the file review a suspect, identified as David Sadler, was arrested and sufficient evidence was obtained to meet the threshold for charge approval.

On May 7, over eight years following the homicide of Erickson, justice was served as a jury convicted 31-year-old David Sadler for first degree murder and he was handed a mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison.

“IHIT’s cold case team has been exceptionally successful in seeing these tragic cases to the end, despite time passed. It is extremely rewarding for the investigators to see justice served as a result of their commitment and perseverance and there is no greater testament to this than a conviction for first-degree murder,” said Staff-Sgt. Jennifer Pound.