maple ridge victims of neighbourhood dispute were 'best couple ever,' devastated friends say
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rcmp on scene at a house in the 11900 block of 238 st after an incident which left three people dead including one of self inflicted wounds in maple ridge, b.c., july 24, 2025.
nick procaylo
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a husband and wife killed in their maple ridge home last week were soulmates, a retired teacher and a former financial adviser, who had a wonderful life until tragedy struck, their distraught friends say.
“they were the best couple ever,” friend matt paproski said of bruce richards and roxanne davidson.
paproski played rugby with richards when they were younger.
“they were in love with great, great kids. they travelled all over together. they skied. they were inseparable. they were a really good example of how people can make their relationship work.”
the victims, both in their 60s, are believed to have two adult sons. she worked as a financial analyst at a bank and he was a teacher in coquitlam.
paproski said richards and davidson were the last people you would ever suspect to be victims of murder.
“not only does it make you think about the tragic loss that it is, but it made me scared to sleep in my own bed that night. i was (thinking), ‘this could happen to anybody.’ it made me really evaluate my relationships with my neighbours,” he said.
paproski added he knew nothing about the circumstances surrounding his friends’ deaths, which the integrated homicide investigation team called “a targeted and isolated incident as a result of a dispute between neighbours.”
about 6:40 p.m. last wednesday, ridge meadows rcmp were called about a neighbourhood dispute in the 11800-block of 239th street in maple ridge. officers left after speaking to several people.
police returned about four hours later, after two vehicles and a garage were set on fire and witnesses reported someone trying to break into the house and shots being fired. the couple and their dog were found dead inside their home in the albion residential neighbourhood.
a suspect believed to be armed with a weapon was inside a neighbouring home, and when police entered after 2 a.m. thursday he was found dead, apparently from self-inflicted wounds. ihit said there are no outstanding suspects.
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b.c.’s independent investigations office, which is probing any connection between the deaths and police action or inaction, on monday renewed calls for anyone with information or video footage of the incident to contact their office.
dean gronsdahl also played rugby with richards, who he met in university.
“he was one of those guys who went out of his way to maintain contact with old friends. i enjoyed when he’d call, or we would meet to catch up,” gronsdahl recalled monday.
“after experimenting with a number of different jobs, he found teaching and, by all accounts, truly enjoyed it. i, and i am sure the rest of the rugby community, grieve for his sons. it’s such a tragedy.”
paproski, president of a calgary film and music production company, didn’t see richards regularly, but also stayed in touch after playing rugby together in university.
“friendships like ours in rugby never die. all of our old boys are shocked by this right now,” he said.
“so many people loved them. … it’s just a horrendous thing,” paproski added.
“they’re the best people, great-hearted, gentle, just caring.”
a burned suv with a bicycle on top in maple ridge.
nick procaylo
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the couple’s facebook pages contain photos of the smiling pair on many recent adventures: richards’ arm draped over davidson’s shoulders in front of a herd of elephants; hiking with a backpack and a dog on a lakeside wilderness path; richards skiing among rugged, snow-capped mountains; davidson barefoot in the waves on a sandy beach, a row of palm trees in the distance; and dated-looking photos of a younger couple hugging their two boys in a pumpkin patch.
paproski said richards also liked to cycle. one of the scorched vehicles in the victims’ driveway, a volkswagen suv, had a trek bicycle attached to its roof rack.
one neighbour, bruce fairweather, said last week that the female victim described her and her husband being repeatedly threatened by the suspect, whom fairweather had never met.
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“the guy had been threatening to them over the years, threatened to kill her. the police have visited him about the threats,” fairweather said. “he was continuing to do that sort of stuff. he would make rude obscene gestures to them.”
fairweather said the woman, presumed to be davidson, texted him wednesday night about calling the police over an alleged death threat, and later that night “all hell broke loose.”
ihit cpl. sukhi dhesi said monday police would not release any new information about the case during the iio investigation, including details about the nature of the dispute between the neighbours and how many times officers had been called to that neighbourhood in the past.
“ihit’s investigation is ongoing, and we are working to determine all the circumstances surrounding the incident,” dhesi said.
with a file from canadian press
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