Friends in shock after news of double homicide

VICTORIA — The ground-floor apartment overlooking Oak Bay Marina in which two young girls were found dead on Christmas Day remained behind police tape Wednesday. Bouquets of flowers were left on the front lawn.

The bodies of Chloe Berry, 6, and Aubrey Berry, 4, were found inside the 1400 Beach Dr. apartment Monday at around 5 p.m.

Investigators are calling their deaths homicides. Their father Andrew Berry, 43, remains in hospital with self-inflicted wounds.

Lorraine Jasmin, who has lived in the building for seven years, said she had Berry and his daughters over for dinner about six months ago. Chloe and Aubrey were polite and watched cartoons after dinner.

“The girls were real sweethearts, just little gems,” Jasmin said.

Berry would leave his door ajar when he went out to smoke and Jasmin could see things strewn all over the floor of his apartment.

“Chaos is an understatement,” Jasmin said of the state of the apartment.

Berry had received eviction warnings due to unpaid rent. According to court documents, Brown Bros. applied for a court order to force Berry to leave the property at 1031400 Beach Dr. on Aug. 30, 2016, but he remained in the apartment.

Despite his issues, Berry appeared to be a loving father, Jasmin said.

“He’d park the smallest one on his shoulders and they’d go out to play,” she said. “He seemed to be a very dedicated father.”

Berry told Jasmin he left his job as an economist at B.C. Ferries in the summer, but didn’t say why.

Berry met the girls’ mother Sarah Cotton when they both worked at B.C. Ferries in 2010.

“We’re all quite devastated here and our hearts go out to Sarah,” B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said Wednesday. “Obviously, our employees are very upset. They knew both Sarah and Andrew.”

Grief counsellors were at head office on Wednesday, she said.