DENVER (KDVR) — The two Denver women killed this week in a suspected domestic violence stabbing have been identified, with those who knew them saying they were next-door neighbors.

Katherine Pivoda, 33, and Jennifer Gelvin, 49, were pronounced dead Wednesday in the 2200 block of South Marion Street, according to the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.

Police said Pivoda’s estranged husband, 36-year-old Matthew Madden, stabbed both women to death.

“What happened, just defies any type of explanation,” Andrew Bisset said.

Bisset was a longtime friend of Pivoda’s, and took her to his senior prom. He said she attended South High School, before working for the University of Colorado Denver teaching English to exchange program students in China. 

“She was like the sun, she’d walk into the room, and not only would she light it up, but people would gravitate to her,” he said. “She’s one of those people that just sticks with you, you know?”

Bisset lives in Michigan, and said he never met Madden. He said Pivoda and Madden met in China, and ultimately moved back to Denver with their two young children. 

“My heart is just shattered for them,” Bisset said of the children. “It’s absolutely senseless, and there’s no point to any of it, there really isn’t.”

Fundraisers have been set up for Pivoda’s children, and for Gelvin’s children, who lost their father earlier this month.