Kelso Brown can't believe the kind, caring guy she knows could be a killer.

19-year-old Cassell Farneworth is accused in the weekend murder of St. Catharines teen Maddie Hood.

Maddie was found dead at home Saturday night, after her basement apartment on East Hampton Rd was torched.  Police say she's the victim of homicide.  Farnsworth is charged with 1st degree murder & arson with disregard for human life.  He'll be at the St. Catharines courthouse Monday for a bail hearing.

Brown who became friends Farnsworth in grade 9 at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, tells 610 CKTB News she can't make sense of what he's accused of.  It doesn't jive with the "really good dude" she knows & Brown had never encountered anyone with anything bad to say about Farnsworth before the weekend.

Brown says Farnsworth is happiest hanging out with friends & cares deeply for his family.  She says he's open & easy to talk to about anything.

Brown knows nothing about Farnsworth's relationship with fellow Sir Winston alum Maddie Hood.  Brown says she'd see Maddie around school but the 2 never spoke.  Police are staying tight-lipped about Farnsworth & Maddie's connection, saying only that they knew each other.

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