Winnipeg musician under public trustee guardianship allowed inside his house for 1st time in months
Paul Cameron Miller says he can't find urn with mother's ashes after home broken into multiple times
Almost a year after he was last allowed inside his home, a man under public guardianship says he's discovered many of his most valuable possessions — including his mother's ashes — are missing.
Paul Cameron Miller, 65, was allowed back into his house in Winnipeg's Earl Grey neighbourhood last week for the first time in months, to see what it looks like after being empty for almost a year and burglarized four times.
He found broken glass, but not the urn containing his mother's ashes.
"I did not see the urn there at all. And if it was, it may have been one of the things that was shattered on the floor. Who knows?"
Several of his guitars were also missing.
Miller, once a thriving musician, froze his feet last December. He was hospitalized for an extended period and diagnosed with dementia, which led him to be placed under the care of Manitoba's Public Guardian and Trustee.
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Last month, CBC reported on his battle to access his health records and ultimately end his guardianship so he can save his house.
When he was placed under the guardianship, he was locked out of his house. The home was facing foreclosure because his mortgage hadn't been paid in months, but because he was under guardianship, he had no idea of the status of his finances. He has no access to his bank account.
WATCH | Miller says he doesn't know where his mother's ashes are:
A person is placed under guardianship if medical professionals deem them mentally incapable of making financial and personal decisions, and the person has no other friends or family able to help them.
After going public with his story, Miller was finally able to meet with the guardian to go over his finances. Next month, he'll be reassessed to see if he needs to remain under guardianship.
If the doctor agrees to lift it, the last step will be for the chief provincial psychiatrist to approve and terminate it.
Home broken into multiple times
The last time Miller was inside his house was in December 2022, when he was picked up by an ambulance and taken to the hospital to treat his frozen feet. Since then, he hasn't been allowed into the house, which was padlocked shut.
It's been broken into multiple times. Miller has spent months asking the guardian to let him in so he can see what is left of his possessions — including more than two dozen guitars and artwork he has spent decades collecting.
He wasn't allowed to go into the home by himself — he had to wait for the public guardian to schedule a time to go with him. The guardian also wouldn't let reporters go into the home with them.
Once Miller arrived, he couldn't tell what was missing or locate his mother's ashes. He said the hallway leading to the kitchen was impassable, with books, papers and other items scattered throughout each room.
"There was a Picasso … an actual print that had a boot mark right in the centre of it and the glass broken around it," he said. "It was just heartbreaking."
He says it will take multiple visits to the house to figure out what is missing and what is in storage with the public guardian.
A longtime friend and advocate of Miller's says while the home was very cluttered before he was hospitalized, it's the damage that occurred since and the items that have gone missing that are the greatest concern.
"It was devastating just to see that kind of destruction," said Kris Olafson.
Case manager offers condolences
A spokesperson for the public guardian said in a statement to CBC that if a client has suggestions for how to manage their assets or affairs, they should communicate that to their guardian.
Miller's situation is "dynamic," the spokesperson said, and involved issues before the public guardian's involvement. The spokesperson said they recently received Miller's medical records and are working on getting them to him.
The public guardian is open to better communication with Olafson and Miller, the spokesperson said, but needs them to be more responsive to the options they are given regarding Miller's assets and home.
The public guardian also sent a letter to Olafson Tuesday offering their condolences for the appearance of the home.
The case manager wrote that she appreciates "how difficult it would have been for Paul to revisit his home, particularly when items that cannot be replaced were broken."
However, the manager said the original condition of the home before Miller went under guardianship has made it difficult to assess the damage and determine what's missing.
Photos taken a few days after Miller came under guardianship appear to show the home disorganized and cluttered before he was hospitalized.
Olafson said that was because of a flood in the basement that required him to move his stuff upstairs.
The case manager said in the letter an insurance claim was made in April after the first break-in, but it remains open because of difficulties determining what damage happened because of the break-ins.
On Nov. 27, after CBC started asking questions about Miller's case, the public guardian finally met with him to go over his financial options to see if he could save his house.
One of the main reasons he wanted to get into the house was to find anything that could be sold off to help address his debt.
There is also hope that once he liquidates his locked-in investments and sells some of his guitars, Miller might be able to cover the money he owes on his mortgage.
Miller said he has two wishes this Christmas — to move back into his cherished home and to get out of guardianship.
"I had never realized that there was even a minuscule amount of potential to get out of it [guardianship]," but with a reassessment coming in January, "now apparently a larger door has been opened," he said.
"This has become a fight. It really has. I need to get my life back."
WATCH | CBC's November report on Miller's fight for 'control over his life':
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