“Time goes by so fast, try to enjoy every moment ‘cause before you know it, it’s gone –Joshua Hogarth,” reads the facebook memorial page dedicated to slain VIU Creative Writing student Joshua Hogarth.
In the early hours of Aug. 21 his lifeless body was found outside a Calgary townhouse. Hogarth, 18, was supposed to return to campus for his second year of studies but his life was tragically cut short by his own friend.
Byron Arnold Blanchard, 20, is being charged with second degree murder in the fatal stabbing death of Hogarth.
“They were friends. It is my understanding they had known each other since 2007,” homicide unit Staff Sgt. Doug Andrus told the Calgary Herald. “We believe the confrontation was the result of an ongoing dispute. As to the nature of that dispute, I’m not aware.”
Blanchard was known to the police having been charged with possession of a weapon in 2011.
Police say that the two were involved in a dispute before the attack. An autopsy has been conducted determining that Hogarth died from stab wounds.
VIU Journalism instructor Richard Dunstan taught Hogarth in the spring semester, “He was a real bright spot, in that he was always cheerful and always eager to learn. In the labs, he always asked more questions about his work than most other students, and he made very impressive progress over the semester. I was really impressed with his last assignment, which was a lively and entertaining feature story. I think he would have had a future in journalism if he had kept going the same way. I don’t think I’ve fully grasped the fact that he’s dead, and the way he died—I’ve had several former students die tragically, but never violently before this, and never this young.”
Hogarth was living with family in Calgary and working as a mover to save money to return to school. He intended on becoming a journalist.