I worked in the l980s with John Pope at the Citizen. I was city hall and politics reporter. It bothers me to read some of the comments about John by people who worked at that time.

I’m stunned that John could ever have killed anyone but himself. He did have a troubled side to him and I know he was packing some heavy baggage from his past in the U.S.

He was an army deserter whose own father turned him in to the FBI when he went home to tell his parents he was going to Canada. I think that would trouble any normal son.

I didn’t think John showed any hint of being ‘crazy’ and I’m surprised that he ever had anything to do with guns. I find it hard to believe. I’ll remember John as a lonely, caring, principled guy who maybe just couldn’t find a comfortable place to rest those principles.

I’m very sorry he did this terrible thing and I wonder what could have driven him to such a place. I hope wherever his spirit has gone it’s resting in peace.

Tom Nixon

Ymir, BC