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1997 murder victim remembered with donations to Victoria’s needy

It’s been 17 years, but Ian Miller still has trouble talking about the loss of his friend and co-worker, Courtney Walls, who was stabbed and killed just two weeks before Christmas in 1997. “It’s a tough time of year,” Miller said.
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Ian Miller holds a photo of former co-worker Courtney Walls at the Bean Around the World coffee house where they would often get together. Walls died 17 years ago after he was stabbed on Douglas Street.

It’s been 17 years, but Ian Miller still has trouble talking about the loss of his friend and co-worker, Courtney Walls, who was stabbed and killed just two weeks before Christmas in 1997.

“It’s a tough time of year,” Miller said. “It brings it all back.”

Miller and Walls worked together at the Forests Ministry for seven years.

“He was a rough-and-tumble rugby guy who was also an amazing, gifted writer,” Miller said Saturday at the bustling Bean Around the World coffee house, where the pair would often have coffee.

“The focal point for me with Courtney was always that we became parents-to-be at the same time.”

But only one of the men would get to see the birth of his daughter. Walls’s daughter was born six weeks after he was killed.

The 33-year-old was returning to work after a coffee break on Dec. 12, 1997 — he had been buying his wife a Christmas present — when he got into a confrontation on Douglas Street. Walls was stabbed twice with a knife and died about an hour later in hospital. The other man, who was 20 at the time, was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Miller remembers the phone call he received from his manager the night Walls died.

“I was stunned, absolutely stunned. I said, ‘What do you mean he was knifed on the street?’ Disbelief. It didn’t compute with the kind of guy he was. It was horrible,” he said.

Every year on the anniversary of Walls’s death, a group of co-workers send each other emails, Miller said.

“We make a mention of him, tell a story about him. Something small, just to say: ‘I’m thinking about our buddy today.’ ”

Somewhere along the way, Miller started making a donation in memory of Walls to the Times Colonist Christmas Fund, which helps people in need.

“It seemed a nice way of doing something. The fact that the Times Colonist fund helps people that need help, and that’s what went wrong for Courtney that day,” Miller said. “Courtney tried to help someone he thought needed help. It was random street violence, and his death was doubly hard for that reason.”

It’s been 17 years. He’s still sad. “I can’t help but be. He was that kind of guy.”

ldickson@timescolonist.com

How to donate

Go to timescolonist.com/christmasfund. The link on the page takes you to a site that’s open 24 hours a day for donations and provides an immediate tax receipt.

Or mail a cheque, made out to the Times Colonist Christmas Fund, to the Times Colonist at 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4M2.

You can also use your credit card by phoning 250-995-4438 during office hours, Monday through Friday.

Make cheques payable to TC Christmas Fund.