BROTHERLY LOVE
Joe Hagel shows the tattoo he had inked on his arm in memory of his brother, Victor, who was stabbed to death two years ago. No one has been charged, and Hagel says his family would like to get answers about what happened, and hopefully, closure.
Joe Hagel says he feels his younger brother Victor’s presence wherever he goes, and he carries him around with him — in the form of a keepsake he wears around his neck and a tattoo on his right forearm.
Tuesday, Aug. 11 marked two years to the day since 23-yearold Victor Hagel died in hospital after being found suffering a stab wound in an apartment complex in the 200 block of Avenue V South. The week has been difficult for Joe, who said his emotions have come in waves since the day he learned of his brother’s death. He said it feels like it happened a week ago.
“The way it all played out, it was just weird. The timing and everything. Nobody can expect a death, nobody’s expecting anything like that,” Joe said.
He described Victor as someone who could always make people laugh, who easily made friends and could “light up a room.” He said his brother was always smiling, even in his last few months when he was working to make changes in his life.
Victor had become involved in the “wrong crowd,” Joe said. In his 20s, his brother started hanging out with “East side boys” who used drugs.
Before he died, Victor wanted to leave the lifestyle and those friends behind.
His family encouraged him to seek help for substance use and he entered a treatment facility. That’s where Joe and his parents believed Victor was until the moment police told them he was killed.
“He didn’t give up, he was lost, trying to find himself, he was working on it and then somebody took that away from him,” Joe said.
Victor Hagel was killed on Aug. 11, 2018.
No one has been charged in connection to his death.
Victor, the youngest of three children, grew up hunting, fishing and camping and spent time in the garage fixing things.
When Joe was seven and Victor, five, their mother nearly died from a heart condition.
Joe recalled instances where his mother had to be rushed to a hospital when she stopped breathing and the children were at the hospital until the early hours of the morning before going to school.
The children helped their father take care of the household.
They were still young when their father was injured in a collision, which has led to several surgeries since.
The other vehicle struck the driver’s side of the car.
Victor, who was in the passenger seat, walked away unhurt, Joe said.
Joe said he thinks Victor started hanging out with the “wrong crowd” at 20 to experience childhood unlike the one he had.
The night police came to his parents’ house to tell them Victor had been killed, Joe was there for a movie night.
He said the experience was like what you see in movies when police explain what happened — except they didn’t get answers as to who killed Victor or why.
Joe later learned his brother had been released from the treatment centre and went to visit a friend at the apartment complex. Joe believes his brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The family follows up with police every few months.
Saskatoon police said Thursday that there are no updates on the investigation, which continues. Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident or have information to call them or Crime Stoppers.
Victor’s family hasn’t buried him and his ashes remain in an urn, while they wait for justice.
Joe has sought counselling for grief and also lives with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. He has chronic pain from an injury he sustained years ago that’s left him unable to work. He, his sister and her partner care for their parents — something Victor had helped with right into adulthood.
He said he isn’t sure Victor’s killer will be found, but said it would give him closure to find out who did it and why. For now, he said learning to let himself open up and let his emotions show has helped him cope.
“As people say, day by day, time heals. I guess I’m here to see if that’s going to work or not,” Joe said.
He was lost, trying to find himself, he was working on it and then somebody took that away from him.