Yellowknife (July 02/03) - Justin Hai Van Vo often talked about getting a normal job and taking care of his boys, according to someone who knew the murdered man well.

The woman, who did not want to be named, acknowledges "Woody" was both a crack dealer and addict.

"He was so addicted," she said. "That's probably why he was doing that job."

Vo used to live in another crack house until it was busted by the cops, she said.

He asked to stay at her place, but she told him he couldn't because of the drugs. So he camped at Long Lake, stayed in hotels, and crashed anywhere he could, she said.

Strangely, she described him as religious.

"You wouldn't think he would be," she said.

The woman spoke fondly of him, saying he had a sense of humour.

"He was kind of crazy," she said with a laugh. "He would not get to the point when he was talking."

She doesn't know why he was killed.

But she said people wearing masks broke into his place above The Diner last summer.

They beat him and sprayed him with mace because he was selling small pieces of crack for $10 instead of making customers save up to buy a bigger piece.

"The other guys were losing customers," she said.

She saw him the day he was murdered. "He drove by and said hi."