'Good-hearted people': Friend remembers father and son slain on Vancouver Island
The victims of a double homicide on Vancouver Island are being remembered as a loving and goofy father and son duo.
Tom Johnson and son, Brad Johnson, were found deceased in their home in Crofton, B.C. in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Justin James Dodd, 33, was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
A friend of the Johnsons, Terese Shearer, says Dodd was a friend of Brad's from high school, and that the Johnsons were helping him through a rough stretch in his life, though she admits she is uncertain on all the details.
She says the Johnsons had taken in Dodd for a couple of nights "just to help him get back on his feet."
"It's crazy to me that this guy came and got help from these two, and this is what they get," she told CTV News on Tuesday.
But, Shearer says she wants the community's focus to stay on the victims.
"They were such good-hearted people," said Shearer. "They would do anything for anybody, honestly."
Brad Johnson (left) and Tom Johnson (right) are pictured: (Terese Shearer)
She says the father and son were "two peas in a pod" who spent lots of time together and acted like best friends.
"Brad was just like a teddy bear, he was a sweet soul. I can say that for Tom as well," she said.
Shearer says she's best friends with Brad's sister and Tom's daughter, Chelsea, and that she's grown up with the family for more than a decade.
"Blood never means family to me, and they always felt like family to me," she said. "It's so heartbreaking."
On Monday, North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP said they were in the early stages of their investigation. Officers from Nanaimo RCMP's forensic identification section are also assisting with the investigation, Mounties say.
Dodd's next court appearance is slated for Nov. 2. None of the allegations against him have been tested in court.
"I want people to know about how good-hearted, how loving, and how kind Brad Johnson and Tom Johnson are," said Shearer.
"They had such hearts of gold and they were just the goofiest and funniest and most loveable people you could come across," she said. "And they're going to be missed every single day."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help members of the Johnson family.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.