Accused blamed mother’s injuries on unknown attacker

A man accused of killing his mother in 2023 told police he thought an attacker used his hatchet to injure her and that she was “sleeping” on the floor near the kitchen for more than a week before being found dead.

A video recording of the interview Gabriel Paul Heymans, 47, had with Sgt. Russell Paterson of the Brandon Police Service played on the second day of the trial in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday.

Heymans has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 71-year-old Maureen Heymans, whom he said he lived with for seven years in an apartment complex at 264 McDiarmid Dr. in Brandon.

“You said it looked like she was sleeping … but nine days later she hasn’t moved,” Paterson said during Heymans’ interview with police hours after he was arrested on Nov. 3, 2023, the same day his mother’s body was found.

“I don’t know what happened … I think she got injured somehow,” Heymans said.

He said the last time he saw his mother awake was when he returned home from the grocery store in the afternoon on Oct. 25, 2023, and she was eating food in the kitchen.

Heymans said he didn’t speak with her before he took a nap until 5 p.m. When he woke up, he made Pizza Pops and watched two movies before falling back asleep.

Around 5 a.m., he woke up to make Pizza Pops again before going back to bed. When he finally got up for the day at 9:30 a.m., he saw his mother lying on the floor surrounded by blood with a hatchet close by.

He said he thought she was still breathing.

Paterson asked him why he didn’t try to help her or call 911.

“I don’t know. I thought maybe she’d wake up,” Heymans said, later adding that a pool of blood near her head hadn’t grown in size, so he didn’t think her injury was serious.

“Her position was changing and it looks like she was sleeping, moving her arms around to like different positions,” Heymans said.

After seeing his mother lying on the floor on the morning of Oct. 26, 2023, Heymans said he took the apartment key, left the door unlocked and walked to a store to buy two oranges and seven bananas before he came home to nap and watch more movies.

Normally, Heymans and his mother would lock the door, but that afternoon he decided to keep it open, he said.

“Maybe someone would walk in and notice. Maybe someone who (came) and caused that would come back in the afternoon,” he said.

When Paterson asked him if he thought anyone did come back, he said no.

Heymans told police he thought someone entered his apartment in the middle of the night while they were sleeping and took his hatchet from his coin bag on the floor. He later admitted that he had never told anyone that he kept a hatchet in that bag.

“I think you’re keeping something from me. I think you’re not telling me something,” Paterson said.

“I don’t know why, but I think you got mad at her, and I think you took your hatchet out of your bag, and I think you hit her with it. Then felt terrible, because this is your mom, and then didn’t know what to do.” Paterson said.

Heymans responded by saying, “I can’t be strong enough to seriously injure my mom.”

During his testimony for the Crown on Tuesday, Paterson agreed that he had reviewed the last known video footage of the deceased woman, which showed her retrieving mail around 11 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2023.

He told Crown attorneys Rich Lonstrup and Reid Girard that he had no concerns about whether Heymans was under the influence of alcohol or drugs when he was taken into custody.

The Crown attorneys, as well as defence lawyers Anthony Dawson and Bob Harrison, are scheduled to continue questioning Paterson in court before Justice Elliot Leven today.

Court also heard testimony on Tuesday from three Brandon police officers — Const. Riley Balcaen, the first officer who responded at the scene, and Const. Earl Johnson and Const. Travis Foster, who were a part of the forensic identification unit.

Balcaen testified that he received a dispatch for a report of a sudden death before 11 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2023.

He spoke to a maintenance worker at the scene who had found the women’s body when he was inside the suite investigating the reason behind a foul odour and a leak in the basement that was coming from the apartment.

Balcaen said he entered the suite with another police officer and made eye contact with Heymans, who had appeared shocked and bolted from the hallway into a bedroom holding a duffel bag.

The police officers arrested him in the bedroom without any issues, Balcaen said.

The kitchen sink was overflowing with water, he said.

During his testimony, Foster said police noticed the distinct smell of a decomposing body from the front lobby of the building.

“As we entered apartment number seven, that odour intensified. It was foul enough that we actually wore canister masks while we were in the apartment,” he said.

Foster said he took photos of the scene, which included blood spatter on the walls, and of the murder weapon that had blood staining and hair on the blade.

The trial continues.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com