At the club where 57-year-old Helder Serpa enjoyed spending his evenings with friends, a collection is underway to help pay for the funeral and flowers.
Sporting Club of Portugal president Tony Pereira has known Serpa for 30 years and said everyone is in shock at the news.
"I just had a customer come in and he just heard. He came in personally to make a donation,” said a visibly shaken Pereira.
Serpa lost his life after being stabbed multiple times during an argument on Spence Street around 1:40 Saturday morning.
Police arrested 35-year-old Mathew James Sellner near the scene and charged him with second-degree murder.
According to police, the suspect and victim were not known to each other.
"Probably in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Pereira about his friend. “That's the only thing I can say because he never bothered (anyone) on the street."
The suspect lives in the same Spence Street rooming house as David Gaumond, one of the people who discovered Serpa bleeding and unconscious in the street.
Photos obtained from Sellner’s Facebook page contain satanic imagery and Gaumond confirmed Sellner has a tattoo of an inverted pentagram, a symbol often associated with Satan.
"I pointed out that tattoo and he said that was an old tattoo (from) when he was younger. But, it was an upside down pentagram,” said Gaumand.
None of that matters to Serpa’s friends as they mourn a man they say touched the hearts of everyone he met.
"He would do anything for anybody. It doesn't matter. You ask him for something and he would do it. No questions about it,” said former co-worker Paul Oliveiri.
A celebration of life for Serpa will be held at the Sporting Club of Portugal on Friday.
