Sixteen months after Gordon Seybold's body was found in the burnt-out shell of his Ibex Valley home, Alberta RCMP have charged two people with first-degree murder in connection to his death.

The 63-year-old man's body was found by fire investigators on March 26, 2008.

Firefighters arrived at Seybold's burning home at 6:00 that morning, but did not attempt to put out the blaze.

"The fire was too far gone," Ibex Valley fire chief Bob Atkinson said at the time.

The blaze burnt itself out within six or seven hours, after which time firefighters entered what was left of the house, only to find Seybold's remains.

The fire was treated as suspicious from the beginning.

Now, after more than a year of investigations led by the Yukon RCMP's major crimes unit, two people have been arrested for the crime.

Norman Elie Larue, 27, of British Columbia; and Yukoner Christina Asp, 31, have both been charged with first-degree murder.

Larue has also been charged with arson.

Although not confirmed by police, the accuseds' names were entered into the Whitehorse court registry today.

Both Larue and Asp have previous criminal records.

Asp was found guilty of manslaughter in 2004 for killing her common-law husband with a butcher's knife. She was sentenced to five years in jail.

Larue is classified as a high-risk offender for a host of crimes which include aggravated sexual assault.

Last Wednesday, police in Calgary sent out an alert to local media warning that Larue was moving to the city after being released from a five-year jail term.

The two were arrested in Strathmore, Alta. on Tuesday and will appear in Calgary court today.

Subsequently, they will be sent to the Yukon for their further court appearances, police said in a press release.