Article content continued

The Rogers’ deaths mark the city’s 18th and 19th homicides of 2016.

Dave Rogers, an only child, was hired by the Citizen in the early ’70s. As a general assignment reporter, he wrote about death inquests, election results, murder trials, drug raids and development in Old Chelsea. He lent his touch to everything from a Gatineau man who twice used a teddy bear to sneak into the carpool lane to towing kick-backs and tax hikes. He left the Citizen in 2010.

His wife, Merrill, was one of four children and grew up in an Air Force family.

In 2012, she advocated for healthier snacks in school vending machines partly because of the effect unhealthy options were having on her son’s physical wellness, according to a report to the school board.

The Rogers’ house sits less than a block from the Carleton Heights Community Centre, near Carleton Heights Park, in a sleepy suburb of the city populated by single-family homes. The house was roped off with police tape Tuesday, closing Apeldoorn Avenue to vehicle traffic.

The Rogers’ neighbours remembered the family as “friendly” but “discreet.” Ehab Zahook, who has been the family’s neighbour for four years now, said Merrill was an avid gardener and he was constantly seeking her advice when it came to his backyard.

Zahook said he developed a relationship with the family shortly after moving in because the Rogers had some tension with the previous owner of Zahook’s home and were glad to see the house change hands.