Suspect arrested in couple’s murders
Canadian snowbirds killed during burglary in Pompano Beach
Marc, 80, and Rita Gagne, 78, were killed during a burglary in their Pompano Beach home.
POMPANO BEACH – Nearly two months after the bloodied bodies of two Canadian snowbirds were discovered in their Pompano Beach mobile home, a suspect has been arrested and charged with their murders, a warrant shows.
Quinton Johnson, 28, killed the couple while burglarizing their home in March, the warrant said.
Marc and Rita Gagne’s bodies were found on a Friday evening, March 22. Marc, 80, and Rita, 78, died from severe head trauma, an autopsy found.
From a series of interviews and sworn statements with people who knew Johnson, investigators learned that Johnson admitted to killing the couple during a burglary and that when he demanded to know where their money was, the Gagnes acted like they didn’t know. When Marc Gagne “refused to give up,” Johnson kicked and punched him and then his wife, the warrant said.
The couple were from SaintCome-Liniere, south of Quebec City, and spent part of each year at their winter home at Golf View Estates, an over-55 community.
The Gagnes had been wintering in Pompano Beach for decades.
Neighbors said the couple spoke mostly French and were friendly with everyone. The two had an adult son and grandchildren who would visit them, according to neighbors, and they also had an adult daughter who died of cancer in February.
On the night of the murders, Johnson was “out licking,” or committing robberies, when he wandered into Golf View Estates, the warrant said.
Johnson, of Pompano Beach, zeroed in on the Gagne’s home at 770 Birdie Lane because the lights were on and the door was open.
Investigators found what they believe was the murder weapon outside near the mobile home on April 4, the warrant said.
Parts of the warrant that said exactly what the weapon was were blacked out.
A week later, on April 11, the couple’s family was contacted via Facebook by someone who said they had information about the deaths.
Witnesses who came forward knew what the murder weapon was, as well as what items were stolen from the Gagne’s home. That information had never been revealed publicly, according to the warrant.
Johnson also allegedly used a cellphone to show someone an article about the snowbird killings and said “I did that,” the warrant said.
It was a DNA match that finally led investigators to Johnson, who was already locked up in the Broward Main Jail for an April 1 arrest, according to the warrant.
That arrest was for allegedly shooting a man in the face at a Pompano Beach ATM and robbing him.
At a court hearing Thursday morning, a Broward County judge ordered that Johnson be held without bond.