Police are staying tight lipped around the arrest and deportation of a murder suspect from Vietnam back to Calgary.

Nathan Paul Gervais fled Calgary while on bail pending trial for first-degree murder in the death of Lukas Strasser-Hird. A Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was returned to Canada from Vietnam on Feb. 9.

Staff Sgt. Colin Chisholm said Gervais appeared before a judge on Thursday and was denied bail.

He said Vietnamese authorities notified Calgary police that Gervais was in custody in November 2017 but could not elaborate on why he was arrested in that country.

Chisholm said Calgary police were invited to Vietnam to accompany Gervais back to Canada and that he was formally arrested once they landed in Toronto for a layover.

'Restricted' in saying more

There were no further details available, with Chisholm saying he could not comment on any aspect of the Vietnamese investigation, including where and when Gervais was located.

"There will come a time when I will be in a position to give you additional details in this case; however, I am restricted in scope as to what I can say at this time," said Chisholm at a news conference organized by police.

He said there is an investigation into whether anyone helped Gervais flee from Canada, but that is standard in these kinds of situations.

Guilty verdicts

Strasser-Hird, 18, died after he was swarmed and stabbed in an alley at Second Street and 10th Avenue S.W. in Calgary in 2013.

Gervais was set to be tried along with four other young men, three of whom — Franz Cabrera, Assmar Shlah and Joch Pouk — were later convicted in Strasser-Hird's death.

Cabrera and Shlah were found guilty of second-degree murder, while Pouk was found guilty of manslaughter.