Murder trial hears of home explosion’s aftermath

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This article was published 01/12/2021 (1492 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — A man accused of killing his wife was “dazed” and quiet after the couple’s house was rocked by a natural gas explosion, court has been told.

Robert Hughes has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the Oct. 22, 2019, death of Betty Hughes.

Brandon firefighter Sean Klemick testified he could hear a loud hissing sound, caused by leaking natural gas, when he arrived at the damaged property.

After Manitoba Hydro turned off the gas, Klemick said firefighters heard something moving in the debris. He said Hughes, who was 63 at the time, was standing where the doorway would have been and firefighters called out to him.

“He didn’t answer when we called to him,” Klemick said.

Firefighters moved through the debris and took Hughes by the arm to a safer spot, he said under questioning from Crown attorney Christian Vanderhooft.

“We noticed some injuries on his forearms, asked him if he had done those to himself and he said ‘Yes,’ and we asked if there was anyone else in the house. Initially, he said ‘It didn’t matter,’” he testified.

Hughes said his wife, Betty, was in the house, and she was “already dead,” Klemick told the court.

At the time, Hughes reportedly had yellow rope wound tightly around his neck and a yellow utility knife in his hand, he said.

On Tuesday, Hughes sat quietly in the prisoner’s box.

Brandon Fire and Emergency Services Lieut. Robbie Brown testified firefighters were “surprised” to find Hughes. The accused had cuts on his forearms, but he was not bleeding profusely.

“Everything was odd at that point … I asked him ‘Were you trying to hurt yourself?’ — something like that — and he said ‘Yes,’” Brown testified.

Brown said the rescue team couldn’t go very far into the building due to safety concerns, but they could see a leg under some insulation. They called out to her, but there was no reply.

Firefighter Travis Tannis said the accused was “dazed” and possibly had trouble understanding questions after the explosion.

Former fire investigator Kevin Oman testified about the debris field around the property. The rear door frame was at the fence north of the house, and the living room window was on the front lawn. Most of the walls had been “pushed” by the explosion and the east wall was resting against a pickup truck.

The investigation led into the basement utility room, which contained the hot water tank, Oman told the court. The gas line leading to the boiler had been severed.

Oman said he concluded the explosion happened when the natural gas ignited on the water heater’s pilot light.

“(It would have been) pretty strong to be able to push walls and move items from the house out into the street… and break floor joists,” he said.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Saul Simmonds, Oman said the explosion was the first one he had investigated.

Simmonds raised issues with the investigation, saying it did not follow the scientific method or test hypotheses about how the explosion happened.

“Not only are you supposed to be following the scientific method… you expect all the other professionals to follow the scientific method,” Simmonds said.

“And that means collecting data, preserving things, taking photographs, taking swabs as part of the task.”

On the first day of the trial, on Monday, Brandon Police Service Const. Travis Foster said Betty Hughes was found inside the destroyed house with a multitude of cuts and lying in a pool of blood.

— Brandon Sun