Unanswered questions after West Island man killed in South Carolina

A West Island man who got caught in a dispute between a woman and her ex has been killed in South Carolina.

A West Island man has been killed in South Carolina.

He got caught in a dispute between a woman and her ex and it appears he might have found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time.

David Duffey grew up in Montreal and is described by his friends as a happy go-lucky businessman who had just retired.

“We went to high school at Loyola High School together over 50 years ago. We graduated in 1981, and he was a lovely, lovely guy. Loved golf, loved to travel, loved life, loved people. He was just an amazing guy,” his childhood friend, Jim Little, told CTV News.

Duffey still kept a home in Pointe Claire but spent his winters under the sun. He had rented a house in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

According to local media reports, Duffey hosted a dinner party on Feb. 20 and among the guests was a recently separated 50-year-old woman named Catherine Warrington. After the party, both Duffey and Warrington were found shot dead outside the home.

Local police quickly identified the shooter as 52-year-old Dustin Linsley. After a brief stand-off at his home in nearby Bluffton, Linsley died by suicide.

Investigators say he and Warrington were once in a relationship but she had filed a police complaint against him after he allegedly threatened to kill her if she didn’t return to live with him.

For family and friends, Duffey might have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Little says Duffey and the victim had barely met and weren’t officially a couple.

“They were friends and spent a lot of time together because they didn’t know that many people down here. and so it was just one of those people that connected instantly and had a great relationship,” Little recalled.

The question many people are now asking is why Warrington couldn’t be protected from a threatening ex and why an unassuming Montrealer would have been caught in between.