Friends of murder victim Austin Simon are trying to organize a celebration of his life in Timmins.
Thirty-nine-year-old Simon – who grew up in Timmins and Iroquois Falls – was stabbed to death in Ottawa’s Byward Market on Halloween night. Another man has been charged with second-degree murder.
Matthew Legault met Simon when he was 15. He calls him “an awesome dude who’s going to be missed.
“He was a good heart. We lived together multiple times. We moved out to BC together. We skateboarded together. He was fearless,” Legault chuckles. “Probably more fearless than intelligent a lot of the times. But he would give you the shirt off his back. He was always looking out for everybody.”
Simon was a carpenter. Legault says he last saw his friend in the spring, before Simon moved back to Ottawa, but he was planning to come back north.
“He was like a dog. He was like man’s best friend. He was a true, loyal friend if you knew him.”