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Brendan McBride, 34, was charged this week with second-degree murder and aggravated assault for what police described as two unprovoked attacks.
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A few weeks ago, Jimmy Peterson got added as a Facebook friend out of the blue by his former North Vancouver high school classmate, Brendan McBride.
“I thought it was a spam account because none of the pictures were of Brendan,” Peterson recalled.
Most of the posts on McBride’s Facebook account contained religious imagery.
But when a co-worker mentioned to Peterson on Thursday that police had identified McBride as the suspect in a downtown Vancouver homicide the day before, he immediately clued in.
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“I wish I had responded, although I don’t know if it would have done anything,” he said.
McBride, 34, of White Rock, was charged this week with second-degree murder and aggravated assault for what police described as two unprovoked attacks Wednesday morning in quick succession.
An unidentified 56-year-old man had his left hand severed during an attack outside the Holy Rosary Cathedral. Minutes later, 70-year-old Francis David Laporte was killed outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Vancouver Police Sgt. Steve Addison said Friday they are continuing to investigate a possible motive and looking to speak to anyone who may have been in contact with McBride the morning of the attacks.
The surviving victim has undergone surgery to reattach his hand, he said, adding that police are withholding “specific detail about the weapon used, including whether it was a machete” as that is evidence that could be used at trial. So far police have only referred to a knife.
Former friends say they are shocked, describing the McBride they knew as quiet and empathetic, but adding that his online correspondence had spiralled into incoherence in recent months.
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Peterson, who attended Sutherland Secondary with McBride, said his former classmate sent him a message rambling about a conspiracy unfolding in White Rock, where he lived.
“I never knew Brendan to be a bully or rude to anyone. He kept mostly to himself, except for a few close friends, but always enjoyed chatting about sports and watching our high school basketball games.”
Court records indicate at the time of the attack McBride was on probation after being convicted of an assault in White Rock in September 2023.
A judge on April 24 gave McBride a conditional discharge, requiring him to follow nine conditions, including sending an apology letter to his victim within three months and not having any communication with them otherwise.
McBride was also ordered to report to a probation officer in Surrey when directed, and participate in counselling or programming for mental health or a live-in treatment program as directed by his probation officer, according to court records. “This may include programming or treatment for psychiatric and psychological health.”
It’s not known whether McBride received any treatment.
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The White Rock assault occurred about three months after McBride finished serving probation for another assault that occurred in North Vancouver in January 2021, according to court documents.
McBride had received a similar conditional discharge for that assault, which included an order to not contact the victim and eight other conditions, including to “attend for a psychiatric intake, assessment, counselling or treatment program through forensic psychiatric services” as directed by the officer.
He was also required to attend counselling for “anger management, violence prevention, alcohol or drug addiction or mental health” as directed by his probation officer.
It’s not known whether he received that treatment.
The order also prohibited him from possessing any restricted weapons, including firearms, crossbows, explosive devices, anything used to cause death or injury or to threaten anyone, or an imitation of any weapon.
The pair of assault charges were among the more than 60 previous interactions McBride has had with police in various B.C. municipalities including Merritt, North Vancouver and Surrey.
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His close friend, Matt Warren, said that when McBride was 20 or so, he “seemed to peel away” into what appeared to be serious mental health issues, given “how hard it was to interpret what he was saying to me and other friends.”
In text messages shown to Postmedia, McBride reached out to Warren in November seeking emotional support.
He described going from being employed as a forklift operator to being unemployed on government disability, citing a “spiritual, mental — physical even attack” as being behind his downfall and that it involved a “militant scheme” of surveillance that was causing him psychological distress.
“God became vocal to me it has been all to a pit of hellish detriment,” he told Warren. “Those around me are the adversary.”
Warren, who has known McBride since their childhood in North Vancouver and throughout their teenage years, described him as an empathetic person “who knew the difference between right and wrong, and a good friend.”
Warren responded to his friend’s messages that he could always count on him, asking him to let him know if there was a way he could help.
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“I didn’t know that or I would have spoken up,” Warren said Friday, referring to his friend’s criminal record. “I would like to understand what happened and why he was never helped.”
McBride remains in custody and is due back in court on Sept. 18.
sgrochowski@postmedia.com
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