ON Thursday (November 29), 31-year-old Jan Poepl was arrested and later charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 34-year-old Nicole Hasselmann.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said that this was an isolated incident and those involved were known to each other. There was no risk to public safety.

Hasselmann (a.k.a. Nicole Porciello) of Burnaby was a special education assistant working with the Vancouver School District.

On Friday, November 16 at approximately 10 p.m., the Burnaby RCMP received a report of a motor vehicle incident involving a 2017 charcoal grey Kia Sorento SUV in the 8000-block of Barnet Highway. Officers found a man and a woman who were taken to hospital.

While the man was expected to make a full recovery, the woman, later identified as Hasselmann, had injuries indicative of foul play and died in hospital. Due to the suspicious nature of her death, IHIT was called in to take conduct of the investigation.

“IHIT detectives worked steadfastly to secure and compile the evidence for charge approval and today’s outcome would not have been possible without their tireless efforts,” said IHIT Cpl. Frank Jang on Friday. “IHIT recognizes that this is a very difficult time for Nicole’s family as they are grieving her death and we hope that we were able to provide them with some answers.”

Anyone with information, who have yet to come forward to police, is asked to call the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

Should you wish to remain anonymous, please contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.solvecrime.ca.