WATERTOWN – Jenn Bossuot wonders if she should have asked Barry K. Stewart about her day, co…
WATERTOWN – It looks like a real estate agency will continue to operate after its two owners were gunned down this week by a former employee.
Maxine M. Quigg, 50, of Wellesley Island, and Terence M. O’Brien, 53, of Black River, died on Wednesday after former employee Barry K. Stewart, 55, of West Carthage, either entered their office and shot them with a pistol.
The tragic and startling deaths have sadly left a question of what happens to the company, Bridgeview Real Estate Services, 145 Clinton St., Suite 111, or the pending transactions and the homes they sell.
When a broker dies, the law provides that the owners, who in this case would be the Quigg and O’Brien families, can appoint a broker to head the agency.
Bridgeview had more than one associate broker who could be appointed. The business would then have a number of months to either appoint someone permanently, hire someone from outside, sell the business or dissolve it.
It looks like someone within Bridgeview has decided to step in and be the prime broker for the time being.
It’s not business as usual, said Lance M. Evans, chief executive of the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors, but all deals will likely stay in place.
“They will probably appoint an associate broker very soon to be a temporary broker, and all trading can go on,” Mr. Evans said.
Bridgeview’s website shows it has 30 employees.
