Manhunt for ‘Canada’s most wanted’ over murdered bodybuilder comes to end in UK town

Jesse Tubbs was a renowned Canadian personal trainer chasing a dream of earning an elite professional bodybuilding card. Two weeks after his 30th birthday his life was cut short in a brutal murder

Bodybuilder Jesse Tubbs (left) was killed in April, and Adrian Gordon Jr (right) has been arrested and charged with his murder (Toronto Police)

When police arrived at an inconspicuous four-storey apartment building in the British commuter town of Luton on August 19, neighbors were oblivious that new resident, 24-year-old Adrian Gordon Jr, was about to be arrested for a bloody crime that took place 3,500 miles away.

The gaunt-looking 130lb, 5ft 6in man was at the center of an international manhunt, with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police putting out an appeal in May that he was “armed, violent and dangerous”.

Now, Gordon is sitting in a jail cell in the UK awaiting extradition and faces a first degree murder charge for allegedly shooting dead an aspiring Canadian bodybuilder, Toronto Police Service announced in a statement on Monday.

Boasting what he described as “boulder shoulders” and a 405lb squat, Jesse Tubbs was chasing his dream of earning his IFBB Pro card.

The renowned personal trainer hailed from the Canadian city of Mississauga, neighboring Toronto on Lake Ontario.

Underneath his chiseled physique, Tubbs harbored a “gentle nature,” a teacher said, living life through the lens that anything was possible with a bit of self-belief.

But just two weeks after his 30th birthday, Tubbs’s life was brought to an abrupt end.

Jesse Tubbs was chasing his dream of being a professional bodybuilder when his life was cut short in May (Toronto Police Service/Handout)

The bodybuilder was found lying on the floor near Isabella Street and Jarvis Street in Toronto just after midnight on May 22.

He had sustained what is believed to be a gunshot wound and showed “obvious signs of trauma,” police said.

Tubbs was taken to a local trauma center in critical condition, but he succumbed to his injuries four days later on May 26.

Homicide and shooting response units from the Toronto Police Service opened an investigation into Tubbs’s murder, and Gordon was designated suspect number one.

A Canada-wide warrant was placed on the alleged shooter’s head, but he wouldn’t be found in the country, nor anywhere in North America.

A combined effort between the RCMP, Interpol, and the UK’s National Crime Agency finally pinpointed his whereabouts: Bedfordshire, a rural county in the East of England.

Toronto police sent an extradition request to the National Crime Agency in London.

Toronto Police Service put out a photograph of Gordon (Toronto Police Service/Handout)

Metropolitan Police officers found Gordon at the Martindales housing complex on Crescent Road in Luton, 45 miles away from their headquarters in London.

The Met declined to provide further details about Gordon’s arrest when requested by The Independent.

“I woke up to a massive scream and found out later that the police had raided the building and arrested him,” neighbor Pavel Klimowicz told The Sun.

“To know he is one of Canada’s most wanted men is crazy. There’s kids and families living here so thank God something worse didn’t happen.”

The motives behind the alleged murder remain unclear.

A website created by Jesse Tubbs’s family put out a wanted picture of Gordon (Jessetubbs.com/Handout)

Gordon is also wanted for aggravated assault, discharging a firearm with intent to wound, possession of a firearm knowing possession is unauthorized, and possession of a loaded restricted or prohibited firearm.

Gordon appeared in court on August 20 and will be remanded in custody until September 30 pending an extradition hearing.

Tubbs never did get to fulfill all his athletic dreams, but his outlook on life transcends the realm of bodybuilding.

“Create your own sunshine. Be yourself, there’s no one better,” he’s quoted as saying on a rememberance site set up by Tubbs’s family.

A GoFundMe established to help the family with funeral costs raised more than $29,000.

Tubbs says ‘he is love’ during a video clip post on his memorial page (Jessetubbs.com)

His funeral was held at Glen Oaks Funeral Home and Cemetery in Oakville, Mississauga, on June 11. Dozens of friends, family and connections have lamented his death in an online guestbook.

“As… his teacher, I can attest to his gentle nature and mannerisms. Always with a smile that lights us his lovely face [sic],” former teacher Ola Oseivhi wrote.

“My beloved Jesse. Thank you for 30 awesome years. You are an awesome son and an awesome person… You are in my heart forever. Love you king Jesse, enjoy Heaven,” his mom Kay Coles wrote.

One of Tubbs’s personal training clients added that he was “my mentor, my guide, my cheerleader, my friend”.