The man, who wanted to be known only as Allan, was shocked to find out what Ginns had done to Ms Glassie, with whom he had three children.
"It blew me away," Allan said.
He worked alongside Ginns in forestry for about six months and went on hunting trips with him.
"He was a good guy to work with. I don't think he ever did drugs. He was a real family man... I thought he was an all right guy."
In a related incident on Friday, a woman was found hog-tied with wire outside Ms Glassie's home.
Allan and his wife, Fiona, were alerted by screams about 6.30am.
They saw a woman hopping around the side of Ms Glassie's house, swollen and bleeding, her face "purple and blue".
"To see her face, it was terrifying," Allan said
The wire was so tight around her neck he initially didn't see it and had to use wire cutters to get it off.
Fiona called police and a van occupied by two men arrived.
One of them was Ginns who helped Allan get the wire off the woman. When police arrived Ginns helped her into the police car.
Fiona said the woman had been talking to them but when Ginns was there did not speak.
The other man in the van drove off and one of Fiona's sons made Ginns a coffee before he also left.
Allan and Fiona were shocked to hear Ginns had shot Ms Glassie and was later found dead.
"It's absolutely shocking," Allan said. "I was absolutely blown away. I didn't think he was the type to do this."
The father of the woman who was hog-tied told The Daily Post his 20-year-old daughter was out of hospital. He would not give his name but said what happened to his daughter and Ms Glassie was unbelievable.
"This guy is a ... maniac," he said.
Bay of Plenty District Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Tim Anderson, said armed police found Ginns' car in Mamaku Forest, near Tokoroa, about 7.30pm Saturday and a body close by. While the body was yet to be formally identified, police were confident it was that of Ginns. The death has been referred to the Coroner.
Mr Anderson said the woman who was hog-tied was not related to Ms Glassie and he did not know if the women knew each other.
Ms Glassie was not in Tokoroa the day the woman was found at her property. Ginns had "a history" with police and was a "person of interest" in relation to the Friday morning incident but police did not have sufficient information to arrest him then, Mr Anderson said.
Ms Glassie had been driving north on State Highway 1 from Taupo on Saturday morning when two shots were fired at her vehicle. She turned down the street, heading towards the Tokoroa police station and he fired at her from his car. A woman, believed to be her sister, was also in the car and was lucky to not have been shot, Mr Anderson said.
Police were yet to speak to Ms Glassie and the other woman and were appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Anyone with information should contact Tokoroa Police or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555-111.
