Trial begins for man, 47, accused of killing his mother

A former maintenance man testifying in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench on Monday described finding a woman’s body inside a Brandon apartment in 2023.

Duwayne Myran was the first of three witnesses called by the Crown in the trial of Gabriel Paul Heymans, 47.

Heymans pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his mother, 71-year-old Maureen Heymans.

Myran, 64, was a maintenance worker for TDel Holdings when he came across the body on Nov. 3, 2023, in a unit at 264 McDiarmid Dr. — an apartment complex in Brandon.

“Can you describe what led you to go into the apartment?” Crown attorney Reid Girard asked.

Myran said he was called to the complex about an odour problem, so he and his boss went looking to find where the smell was coming from. Shortly after, his boss was called somewhere else, and Myran continued to look for the problem, he said.

While in the building’s basement, Myran noticed water coming through the ceiling, he said. Myran said a mother and son lived in the unit where the water appeared to be coming from.

Myran said he went upstairs and knocked on the door while yelling “maintenance” several times.

Nobody responded, so Myran said he used his master key to unlock the door, he testified. He immediately looked to his right and noticed the sink was overflowing, he said.

“When I turned to my left, I seen the body laying on the ground.”

He said the body was lying stomach down in the living room, and there was blood on the floor coming from “the head area.”

“Did you suspect anything about the identity of the dead body?” the Girard asked.

“Yeah, it was the mom,” Myran said.

Myran immediately left the unit, locked the door and called his boss, who told him to call 911, he said.

One of Myran’s co-workers came to meet Myran, he said, and after telling the other man what he had seen, his co-worker went inside.

Less than 10 seconds later, Myran’s co-worker came out of the unit and told Myran he had seen a hatchet inside.

Myran said he called 911, and the two men waited for police to arrive. When they did, Myran said he spoke with the officers and gave them his master key for them to open the door.

He later saw an officer bring a man from the apartment into a police cruiser.

“Did you recognize this person?” Girard asked. Myran said he did.

“Who did you recognize them as?”

“The son,” Myran said.

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Bob Harrison asked if the occupants of the unit kept to themselves. Myran said they did.

“You never heard any arguments or yelling?” Harrison asked.

Myran said he didn’t, and he didn’t know of any complaints from other tenants.

Harrison asked if Myran had ever spoken with either of the occupants. He said he and the woman would greet each other, but Myran never received a response from the man when he greeted him.

Const. Dylan Jeske was the next to take the stand.

The Brandon Police Service member said he was sent to an apartment building at 264 McDiarmid Dr. to respond to sudden death at around 11 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2023.

While en route, Jeske said he received further information about a weapon and that someone may still be inside.

Jeske spoke with officers outside the building, along with a maintenance man, before he and the other officers entered the unit.

He said they knocked on the door and announced their presence. When they received no response, an officer unlocked the door and they entered the unit, he said.

Jeske said Const. Brett Long saw someone and shortly after announced that he had someone in custody.

Jeske said he saw the deceased’s body in the living room after the suspect had been removed.

He said the deceased’s pants were just below the buttocks area and there was a pool of blood around the head.

“(I) also noticed what looked to be a hatchet a couple feet away from the deceased’s head,” he said.

Jeske said he was confident the person was deceased since their body was black and it looked like facial decomposition had started to set in.

Once the unit was clear, Jeske said he held the scene for the next two to three hours.

Long also took the stand, and testified that he saw a man entering a bathroom when he and the other officers entered the unit.

“I announced myself as police and tried to start giving verbal commands to the male … and there was no response,” Long testified.

He said the man exited the bathroom and walked down the hallway into a bedroom. Long and another officer followed, he said.

Long said he and the other officer pushed the man, who still wasn’t acknowledging police, onto the mattress and placed him in handcuffs.

He said they took the man to the police cruiser, where Long confirmed his identity, before driving him to the police station.

Defence lawyer Anthony Dawson asked if the man reacted to Long’s presence. Long said he didn’t react until he was being put in handcuffs. Long said he tensed his arms.

“Is it unusual to have someone who’s so uninteractive with officers like this?” Dawson asked.

“Yes,” Long responded.

Dawson asked if he saw any blood on the accused’s clothes. Long said he didn’t.

The trial is slated to last two weeks.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com