Jury begins deliberations in trial of Brandon man accused of killing wife before 2019 house explosion

Jury deliberations began Thursday afternoon in the second-degree murder trial of a Brandon man accused of killing his wife before their house exploded two years ago.

Robert Hughes, 65, is accused of killing his 63-year-old wife, Betty, in October of 2019 before the house they shared in Brandon's Green Acres neighbourhood blew up. 

Over the course of the last two weeks, the trial, which is being heard in Brandon's Court of Queen's Bench by Justice Scott Abel and 13 jurors, heard two very different versions of the events that took place in the Hughes' kitchen before the home blew up in a natural gas explosion. 

Abel gave the jury three possible verdicts to reach — guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter or not guilty. Jurors were sequestered at 3:30 p.m., after more than two hours of instructions by Abel. 

The jury deliberated until after 9 p.m. Thursday before retiring for the night. They will resume at 9 a.m. on Friday.

The defence, headed by lawyer Saul Simmonds, told the court this week that it was Betty who started the altercation in the home. In his own defence, Robert Hughes said Betty hit him repeatedly with a broom after he swore at her when asked to clean up after himself one evening. 

'No turning back'

"She built this powder keg of resentment," defence lawyer Saul Simmonds said in his closing remarks on Thursday. 

"She went over the edge. There was no turning back for her at that point." 

Hughes testified that Betty turned into a "wild animal," gouging her husband of 45 years in the eyes while both struggled in the kitchen. Hughes said he was trying to control his wife and didn't feel threatened by her, despite the ongoing struggle, which he described as "World War Three." 

Court was told the couple, who had two living children together, was preparing to separate and was selling the Queens Ave. East home. 

In his testimony, Hughes said it was his wife who cut herself in the face and head with a utility knife, but he couldn't say how his wife got hold of that knife. 

She bled to death from a cut on her temporal artery. 

Hughes testified he sat with his wife as she took her last breaths in a pool of her own blood on the kitchen floor. He said he was so distraught and struck by what had happened that he attempted to take his own life.

He cut the home's gas line before the home exploded, the walls and contents of the home pushing out into the street. 

"You are the protection between Mr. Hughes and wrongful conviction," Simmonds said, as audible cries could be heard from the gallery. 

Wife felt controlled, worthless, trial hears

"She was not a wild animal, and this was not World War Three," said Crown lawyer Chris Vanderhooft in his closing remarks. 

"If anyone was defending themselves, if was her," he said. 

Vanderhooft presented a case that he said proves Hughes intended to harm Betty, but was reckless. 

His case focused on the Hughes' marital issues, noting they had previously separated and he was angry with her. 

"She felt controlled, worthless, judged and wanted to leave," Vanderhooft said, as Hughes sat in the prisoner box shaking his head. 

Vanderhooft said Hughes' true colours shone through on cross-examination, saying he became combative, swore, yelled, going as far as asking Vanderhooft if his wife had ever beat him before. 

"He was tired after inflicting that many injuries and he didn't stop until she was dead," Vanderhooft said of Robert's version of events — pointing to his testimony that he sat with her as she died. 

Both the Crown and defence agreed that the explosion was caused by the actions of Hughes.  

"Deciding the facts is your job, not mine," Abel said in his instructions to the jury.  "You, not I, decide what happened in this case" 

The trial was scheduled to last three weeks, but wrapped up just shy of two.