Stabbing victim who died last week in Victoria is remembered fondly

A memorial has been set up inside a supportive housing unit in Victoria for the victim of a fatal stabbing from last week.

Oliver Nicholson, 38, lived in Crosstown Supportive Housing for four years before a fatal stabbing on April 10 left him dead in front of a pizza restaurant.

On Wednesday, April 11, Const. Terri Healy, a spokesperson with the Victoria Police, said that there are no suspects in custody.

“There’s been no arrests so far. We are appealing to any additional witnesses,” Healy said.

Many of Nicholson’s family say they’d lost touch with him long before his stabbing death, including his cousin Rina Veltkamp.

“That’s where I feel a little bit angry, and frustrated. My family didn’t talk about Oliver,” Veltkamp said.

Nicholson and Veltkamp grew up in a tight-knit family in Saskatoon and they grew apart over the years.

From pictures he posted to Facebook, Nicholson played electronic music and appeared at several venues in the city.

Then he moved to Victoria about 10 years ago.

He painted and could often be seen carrying a skateboard around.

“My aunt once mentioned he was living in the tent city down in Victoria. But it was kind of just in passing. As if it wasn’t such a big deal. And then when I heard that he was homeless for over eight years. That’s such a big difference between somewhat being homeless, and being homeless for like, eight years,” Veltkamp said.

She said her cousin is not the only one who struggled with addiction in her extended family, and feels that families need to talk more about their addicted loved ones.

“It’s so important for families to talk about these things. I feel like, yeah, there’s so much that wasn’t said, and I just wished that we talked about it more,” Veltkamp said. “And that addicts, in general, are talked about more.”

Veltkamp wants her cousin remembered as adventurous, and caring.

Victoria Police say there is no new information on the investigation.

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