MONTREAL, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- One of two victims of a fire being treated as a homicide by Montreal police was identified as a hip-hop concert promoter, sources told The (Montreal) Gazette.
Although police have not formally released the names of the two men who died following a suspicious apartment fire Friday, numerous people in Montreal's hip-hop community said one victim was Matthew "Dutch" Garner, the newspaper reported.
Garner, 29, was known for bringing both big names and relatively unknown acts to venues around Montreal.
Police said one man burned to death in the fire and a second died later in a hospital after escaping the apartment.
As police were responding to reports of an altercation in the third-floor unit the apartment went up in flames, the newspaper said.
Witnesses told police the two victims were set on fire and that several people fled the scene.
Investigators said they believe the men were targeted, and one of them was known to police.
Montreal promotional company Long Life Productions, which specializes in hip hop, posted a notice on its Web site confirming Garner died Friday night.
"Matt Dutch Garner was Montreal's biggest promoter of this city's talent and shows," the company statement said. "He opened the doors for the world to see (the) Montreal scene. His life was taken last night and left the city in a state of shock."
