Ryan King, 26, of Stoney Creek was taken into custody by a surveillance team as he was getting out of his car in a Burlington parking lot on Tuesday.

He faces both second-degree murder and drug charges, the latter for allegedly trafficking in cocaine.

The arrest comes just six weeks after police released a composite drawing of the prime suspect in the March 2003 murder of John Daly, who died 10 days after being stabbed in the head during a confrontation with two thieves who were breaking into a car near his East 34th Street home.

Det.-Sergeant Mike Thomas said several of the three dozen public tips identified Mr. King as being the person in the composite drawing. He said it was a terrific experience to be able to inform Mr. Daly’s wife of the arrest in the case dubbed Project Samaritan.

“It could have been anyone of us walking down the street. Mr. Daly did what you hope a lot of the community would do,” Det. Sgt. Thomas said.

“He took off after them. They were breaking into his neighbour’s car. Who would have thought, in retrospect, that (the suspect) would stab you in the head? It’s going to cause significant injury or death over theft from a vehicle,” he said.

“One of the great feelings to have as an investigator is to have the opportunity to go tell the family that at least you’re going to be able to hold someone responsible and accountable for their actions.”

Det. Sgt. Thomas said police will likely determine shortly whether to arrest a second suspect in the case.

According to witnesses, the accomplice, who is believed to have shared an apartment with Mr. King in the area at the time, did not take part in the fatal attack.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, does this person have any culpability in the homicide at all,” he said.

“We’ll make that determination relatively quickly.”

While the composite sketch that led to the arrest is based on descriptions five years ago, Det. Sgt. Thomas said it

proved “of tremendous assistance” to the investigation.

But he said police were also helped by the suspect’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Mr. King’s partner, Amanda Sowtus, 23, of Stoney Creek, is also charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

They were living together in the area of Queenston and Gray roads.

“When we really started concentrating a significant amount of resources on him, we very quickly learned that he was out there drug trafficking,” Det. Sgt. Thomas said.

“It actually made it a little easier for us because we’re out there and we’re observing his drug-trafficking behaviour, which gave us a whole avenue other than just the homicide to work on,” he said.

“As a result, we were able to bring in a number of our drug officers to assist us.”