They were co-workers on a job, more than 200 kilometres from home.
Now, one man is dead and the other man faces a charge of second-degree murder.
On Monday, 33-year-old Jason Bezanson was escorted by sheriff's deputies and led into the Pictou courthouse.
He faces a charge of second-degree murder, following an incident early Friday morning at a hotel in New Glasgow, N.S.
Police were called after 39-year-old Allison Mahar was found in his hotel room.
They say he wasn’t breathing and had signs of trauma with life-threatening injuries.
Reached by phone, his mother-in-law tells CTV News that Mahar was a loving father and hard worker.
“Allison was a kind, loving, fun-filled man who was always … he worked very hard to help support his family,” said Tammy Rose Connell.
She describes what it was like seeing him in the hospital.
“I held his hand and I put my hand through his hair and I said to him, I said ‘Allison, what did they do to you?’ I said ‘who did this Allison?’” Rose Connell said. “He's a good soul. And he didn't deserve to die.”
Bezanson's family was at the courthouse Monday morning.
According to them, both men worked for a moving company and were away from their Annapolis County homes for a job.
“There was five of them,” said Taffney Caldwell, the wife of the accused.“They were moving a school. That's all I know.”
Said Bonnie Ward, the mother of the accused: “He's a good kid. And I'm so proud of him.”
There's no word yet on any possible motive or the cause of death.
“Any murder by its nature is violent,” said Crown Attorney Bill Gorman. “There are, I suppose, various degrees of heinous. But at this point it would be premature to disclose the exact manner, mechanism or cause of death.”
Bezanson will be back in court Sept. 24 to set a date for his preliminary hearing.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.
