‘He’s been a blessing’: best friend of murdered Mac’s clerk opens up about loss

EDMONTON – Just hours after losing her best friend to a violent robbery in south Edmonton, Sara Chaloux said she is horrified by his brutal murder but takes comfort in knowing his religious faith would have helped him through it.

“It just keeps flashing through my head what he was thinking,” Chaloux said. “I’m just thankful he was a firm believer in God and I know that in his mind and in his heart he’s gone to heaven.”

Her friend was a clerk at a Mac’s convenience store on 61 Avenue and 108 Street that was robbed by by three people wearing masks early Friday morning. Police are not naming him because they are still trying to notify his family. However, another Mac’s clerk, believed to have been killed by the same suspects in a separate robbery, has been identified as 35-year-old Karanpal Singh Bhangu.

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Chaloux said she heard news of the robbery on 61 Avenue and immediately feared her friend was the victim.

READ MORE:‘Unnecessary, gratuitous, evil’: 2 clerks shot to death in Edmonton robberies

“It just scared me right away. I thought like (her friend) has been in situations before where he was held up and had different things happen so that was just the first thing that jumped in my mind.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It just scared me right away. I thought like (her friend) has been in situations before where he was held up and had different things happen so that was just the first thing that jumped in my mind."

Chaloux said she met the victim nearly five years ago when he first moved to Canada from the Philippines. At the time, Chaloux said she was struggling with a number of issues and that her new friend gave her love and comfort.

“He was helping to take care of me without my even asking him to do that,” she said. “He’s a different type of person; not like anyone I’ve ever met in my life before. Extreme amounts of unconditional love and support.”

Chaloux said she spoke with her friend several times a day, and the last text she got from him was at 12:30 a.m. Friday, just hours before he was killed.

“I wasn’t up to message him back,” said Chaloux as she wiped away tears. “He’s been a blessing to have in my life and I know the last thing he would want for me or anyone else to be crying or be upset.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I wasn't up to message him back," said Chaloux as she wiped away tears. "He's been a blessing to have in my life and I know the last thing he would want for me or anyone else to be crying or be upset."

She said he had a son in his native country but was hoping to marry someone in Edmonton and start a new family in Canada.