Caesar Rosales, 55, was stabbed to death on a B.C. Transit bus in Kelowna on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014. The man accused of second degree murder in connection with the killing, Tyler Jack Newton, 23, appeared in court Monday, Nov. 3, 2014 and was remanded in custody.

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KELOWNA - The man killed in what police are calling an unprovoked attack on a city bus last week is being remembered by coworkers as a popular, unique man dedicated to his job.

Before he was murdered on a bus on Baron Road last Thursday, Caesar Rosales, 55, was a business systems analyst for Kelowna Flightcraft. A co-worker who knew him several years says he was popular with staff and had an adventurous personality.

"He was not a run of the mill guy," says Flightcraft director of human resources Grant Stevens. "He was a good, salt-of-the-earth guy."

Stevens says Rosales was riding the number eight bus home from running errands downtown after work Thursday when someone attacked him from behind. He died on scene.

Police originally called the attack an “altercation” between two people, a word Stevens says makes it sound like Rosales was more than just an innocent victim.

“It was not just some altercation between a couple guys,” he says, adding that Rosales normally rides the bus with coworkers. “It was a case of wrong place at the wrong time.”

Stevens says staff at Kelowna Flightcraft, a group of companies with over 700 employees, had a difficult weekend trying to make sense of the tragedy.

“We had a real tough day Friday,” Stevens says. “You show up for work Monday and there’s an empty desk and you know he’s not coming back, it’s tough. It’s a double shock. How could this happen in Kelowna and how could this happen to someone we know?”

Rosales had only moved to Kelowna two years ago but quickly became known as someone who lived life to the fullest.

“As a person, Caesar was intelligent, gentle, caring, and passionate. He took the opportunity to live life to the fullest – skydiving, bungy jumping, zip lining, hiking, and walking the CN Tower – all in the last few years,” Stevens says. “He loved to film and share his adventures, creating his own YouTube channel.”

Rosales has a son in Vancouver and a brother in the Philippines.

One day after the murder, Kelowna RCMP announced they had a suspect in mind and Tyler Jack Newton, 24, was arrested Friday night.

He is charged with second degree murder and will appear in Kelowna Provincial Court November 20.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.