Glued locks, smeared feces, fish carcasses and unheeded cries for help: Did the system fail Marilyn Mitton?

On July 12, 2016, Marilyn Mitton sat down on a chair in her one-bedroom downtown apartment and picked up a pen.

In front of her was a CityHousing Hamilton maintenance request form, the same one she filled out a month earlier.

And the month before that.

I cannot put up with the harassment I have been receiving from Wayne Bell anymore," she wrote. Please help. You have every complaint I've made, and now he is starting it again."

Marilyn, 66, was exhausted.

In the last 10 months, she had filed more than a dozen similar forms to the city housing agency.

All were complaints against a man she briefly dated who lived seven floors on top of her in the same seniors' apartment building.

All were desperate pleas for help.

All went unheeded.

This request - which an agency staffer marked as URGENT" on the top margin of the page - would be her last.

Marilyn was murdered two weeks later.

She was stabbed with a hunting knife seven times and left to bleed face down in a bleach- and water-filled bathtub.

A firefighter stepped over her pale, pruney skin after her apartment was deliberately set ablaze on July 31.

Some hundred tenants flooded onto the sidewalk in front of 200 Jackson St. W. and watched as heavy smoke billowed from a single unit into the noon sky.

Wayne Bell stood out like a sore thumb.

He was already in tears by the time paramedics hurried out of the building holding a body on a stretcher.

It was Marilyn.

That's my girlfriend," Bell told a firefighter on scene, the same firefighter who, not 20 minutes earlier, found Marilyn's limp body in the bathtub and carried her by the legs and torso to paramedics at street level. That's my girlfriend."

Bell was arrested that night.

He was no stranger to Hamilton police - patrol officers responded to Marilyn's apartment five times in the months leading up to her death.

Evidence presented at Marilyn's murder trial revealed she complained to police about Bell and how he tormented her. How he rubbed feces and urine on her door, taped threatening notes to it and left fish carcasses on the mat. How he would not stop.

In December - more than four years after Marilyn was killed - a jury found Bell guilty of first-degree murder and arson.

But questions about Marilyn's death remain.

Why did police not do more about her complaints?

Why did CityHousing take no concrete action when Marilyn begged her superintendent for help?

Why did CityHousing suggest Marilyn move to a new building, but not Bell?

Why didn't anyone conduct an investigation after Marilyn's door lock had to be replaced some 13 times in 10 months because it had been intentionally broken or damaged?

These questions loom like a dark cloud over Christopher Mitton, Marilyn's only son, who wonders how a woman who repeatedly asked for help from the agencies that could have protected her was ultimately left abandoned.

Left, instead, to seek justice in the afterlife by documenting evidence of her harassment for a jury to hear.

They had everything at their disposal to prevent her death, and they did nothing," Christopher said of CityHousing and police, noting he was aware of his mother's complaints to both. How many cries for help does it take? It absolutely blows my mind that nobody did anything at all."

Christopher tried reaching out to the housing agency on behalf of his mother. He said nothing came of it.

The system completely failed my mother."

Hamilton police said a review into the five complaints leading up to Marilyn's death prompted revisions to its criminal harassment policy.

CityHousing updated its harassment and anti-discrimination policy four months after Marilyn was murdered to include that reoccurring complaints against another tenant could result in a lease termination or possible legal action.

The agency did not respond when asked if the changes were made in response to what happened to Marilyn.

For Christopher, a father to three young daughters, what is most difficult to accept is the circumstances under which his mother died.

It was as if Marilyn knew what was coming.

She once kept a trove of notes and letters in a box tucked away under her living room desk, not far from where she would later be stabbed.

Gold on the backside with a clear plastic slip on its face, the box - labelled Wayne's Actions, Give to Housing Dec. 2015" - told the story of a lonely woman who was terrorized until the day she died.

It was found unscathed as forensic investigators combed through Marilyn's soot-covered apartment for evidence the day after it was set on fire and her body was discovered.

This box is Marilyn Mitton's words to you from the dead," Crown attorney Nancy Flynn told a jury in her closing address.

Saving these notes, in this manner, is the equivalent of Marilyn saying, If anything happens to me, Wayne Bell did it. Because here is all the harassment I have endured at his hands.'"

Living in fear

Marilyn lived in perpetual fear of her abuser.

She made such clear on Sept. 14, 2015 - four months after she met Bell - when she penned a handwritten letter to CityHousing Hamilton.

I want to tell you about a man who has been harassing me and I explained it to (Superintendent) Martin (Jackson)," the letter began.

He has:

1. Glued my front door 2 times

2. Threatened suicide and smeared his blood all over my front door

3. Spread urine and bowel waste over my front door

4. Incessantly knocked on my door

5. Leaves notes on my door

6. At the 1st of this month (Sept.) I sent him to the store with my debit card (stupidly) and he withdrew over $150 which he kept

His name is Wayne Bell."

The CityHousing staffer to whom the letter was addressed made a note near the introduction.

Called Marilyn back @ 11:00 a.m. and suggest she contacts Hamilton police to file a report," the note read. She believes it's Wayne Bell but has no proof/witnesses to confirm."

A pattern was unfolding.

Two weeks earlier, on Aug. 29, Marilyn filed a tenant complaint to the agency. Blood was smeared on her front door, she wrote, and a note was left by Bell. Her key lock was also broken.

Note was not signed by Wayne, but she thinks it was him!" wrote a city staffer on the complaint.

No one saw who did it.

But it kept happening.

By the fall of 2015, Marilyn was afraid to leave her apartment for even the smallest grocery or errand run.

Most times, according to evidence presented at court, she worried about running into Bell in the elevator, hallway or street.

Other times, she physically could not leave: The vandalism to her door, particularly with regards to superglue, meant she was unable to lock it if she left or unlock it if she entered.

CityHousing hired a locksmith on six different occasions and paid $318.82 from August 2015 to June 2016 to replace Marilyn's front door lock because it had been intentionally broken or superglued.

Martin Jackson, the building's former superintendent, testified at court he fixed Marilyn's lock himself another seven times.

Did he speak to Bell, or ask him if he was responsible?

No," Jackson testified. I never spoke to Wayne cause I couldn't accuse the man cause I just didn't know who done it."

Jackson testified he broached the issue with his superiors.

This happened so often, I talked to my boss and said I'm tired of changing the locks there," he said. Get somebody else or get something done about it. It can't keep going. Locks are not cheap."

Donald Orr, then community relations manager for the City of Hamilton, wrote in a client log he visited Marilyn's apartment on March 29, 2016, after she complained her door lock had been glued again.

Orr handed Marilyn a copy of the city's urgent Access to Housing (ATH) application, given to victims of abuse by someone with whom they have never lived.

Client states she does not wish to move," Orr wrote of Marilyn, but there are no witnesses to the door vandalism, just her statement that it must be him still harassing her."

Marilyn knew who it was.

The thought of it consumed her.

I feel like a prisoner," she wrote in the Sept. 14 letter to CityHousing, seven months before Orr visited her apartment.

I'm afraid to go even to the store. Please, please help."

Had Marilyn taken CityHousing up on its offer to move, it would not have happened immediately.

According to the city's housing services division, the average wait time for urgent ATH applicants was 17.8 days in 2016.

Applications for special priority persons or victims of abuse by someone with whom they have lived - which Marilyn did not qualify for - took an average of 10.3 days to process.

There are times where tenants request to move out of their unit/housing situation for a variety of reasons, and unfortunately the wait times across the social housing system in Hamilton can be long," said CityHousing spokesperson Antonella Giancarlo, noting offers to applicants can only be made as units become available for rent.

CityHousing did not respond when asked if Bell was given an ATH application or encouraged to move, as was done for Marilyn.

Christopher cannot understand why it was his mother - the victim - being asked to leave her home.

If Bell was the problem, why wasn't he ever asked to move?" said Christopher. Why was the person begging for help asked to move instead of the tenant who was the (subject) of all these complaints?"

He likened it to slapping a Band-Aid on top of a gushing wound.

They might have recommended her to move, but they didn't have a place for her to move to," said Christopher.

She couldn't wait. She was scared for her life."

Unanswered questions

The Spectator posed dozens of questions to CityHousing, the city's largest social housing agency, in relation to the harassment complaints Marilyn filed.

Few were answered.

CityHousing did not say if they ever looked into Bell as the perpetrator of the vandalism at 200 Jackson.

They also declined to disclose if other tenants were subject to similar forms of harassment.

While we cannot speak to individual tenants and specific situations, we can say that, as the largest social housing provider in Hamilton, CityHousing Hamilton's top priority is the safety and wellbeing of our tenants across all properties," spokesperson Giancarlo said in a statement.

Should a tenant's door lock being damaged 13 times in 10 months trigger a special agency response, such as an investigation into who is responsible?

CityHousing did not answer.

Giancarlo said CityHousing takes complaints from our tenants very seriously," but, in follow-up emails, did not answer further questions related to Marilyn's complaints.

The absence of proof tying Bell to the harassment - like a signed note or a witness to the vandalism - does not explain the absence of response from the housing agency, said Anna Matas, a Toronto lawyer with extensive experience in sexual assault and abuse cases.

The fact that a note wasn't signed or someone didn't see the harassment is not where this investigation ought to have ended," said Matas. That pattern of increasing harassment ... it's very disturbing."

Besides the obvious warning signs of a woman suffering from domestic abuse, Matas said there were also clear tenant safety threats" - like Marilyn's door lock being glued shut - the housing authority should have addressed.

Someone being prevented from locking or closing their door, that's problematic," she said.

Matas said Marilyn's death is part of a broader issue in Canada. Domestic abuse victims are too often neglected and ignored, and many are afraid to come forward with complaints because of that.

But what makes Marilyn's case particularly tragic is that she did come forward - and repeatedly.

It's devastating and extremely sad to see that when someone was reaching out repeatedly, there was no assistance offered," she said. It reinforces to other victims that they're not going to get the help they need."

It would not have been possible to catch Bell's harassment on camera because there were only two surveillance cameras at 200 Jackson in 2016.

One was in the basement next to a recycling room. Another was in the vestibule on the first floor, near the entrance and lobby.

A third camera was installed two years ago in the building's common area room.

The two CityHousing highrises right next to 200 Jackson - at 181 Jackson and 95 Hess. St. S. - have had cameras on every floor for nearly a decade.

In 2013, the agency spent $225,000 to bring 24-7 surveillance systems to the buildings, which at the time were notorious for drug trafficking and high crime rates.

Coun. Chad Colins, president of CityHousing's board of directors, said in a telephone interview the number of cameras at 200 Jackson is comparable to similar multistorey private sector apartment buildings.

I don't think we're short on cameras in the building," he said. There aren't many buildings that have many cameras."

Collins could not comment on the decision to exclude 200 Jackson from the surveillance funding because he was not on the board when it was approved.

When asked if more could have been done to save Marilyn's life, Collins said he was not aware of her death.

Coun. Jason Farr, current vice-president of the board who sat as a voting member in 2013, did not respond to requests for comment.

The beginning of the end

Marilyn met Bell on a windy afternoon in May 2015.

She was sitting on one of a half-dozen park benches outside 200 Jackson, shielding her hand over a cigarette to keep a lighter flame from fizzing out.

Bell walked over.

He had a Zippo lighter and lit the smoke. Then he watched as she finished and headed back inside.

And I thought, She's not getting away. I want a piece of this. I want to get to know her better,'" Bell testified at trial. Just as the elevator was closing, she put her hand on my arm and asked if I wanted to have a beer at her place. I said sure."

The early, platonic relationship between Marilyn and Bell was amicable, if not mutually beneficial, according to evidence heard at court.

Marilyn, a widow who suffered from chronic panic attacks and depression, knew no one in Hamilton besides Christopher. She moved to the city on Jan. 24, 2015, to be closer to him and his family.

Mr. Bell was very nice, and I thought it would be nice to have a friend," Marilyn wrote in a letter sent to CityHousing explaining the origin of their relationship.

They drank beers and shared meals and watched TV together.

Bell told Marilyn he only received $320 a month from disability payments - about $19 short of the building's monthly rent. She gave him free cigarettes, beer and food.

Being naive and stupid, I trusted him," Marilyn wrote in the letter. I was lonesome and needed a friend."

The relationship became romantic in June.

Then came the harassment.

Once, Marilyn wrote in the letter, Bell stole her prescribed depression medication and $150 from her purse. When she confronted him, he denied it. She later found the tube of pills taped under his kitchen table.

I told him I am through trusting him and we were finished as friends," Marilyn wrote.

But Bell persisted.

Unwelcome visits and knocks late at night. Money and bank cheques stolen. Feces slathered over the door, threats taped to it. Fish and lobster carcasses and crushed oranges left on the mat.

Superintendent Jackson recalled a conversation he had with Bell in April 2016 during his testimony in which he told Bell to stay away from Marilyn" for his own sake.

Jackson testified it was the consensus" of several people in the building that Bell and Marilyn's relationship was unhealthy.

I can't actually say why I said that because it's what I thought," Jackson testified. He (was) getting in over his head with her.

I was saying it to him as a superintendent ... He should stay away from her cause, the way they were going, something was going to snap."

Some of the harassment Marilyn endured was indirect, almost cryptic.

On Dec. 2, 2015, dozens of copies of a July 2014 police brief published in the Niagara Falls Review were pinned to the notice board in the main hallway of 200 Jackson.

Niagara police had charged Marilyn with one count of break and enter and one count of killing an animal after she allegedly threw a cat from a fifth-floor apartment balcony.

She was later found not guilty.

Only Wayne Bell knew about this," Marilyn wrote on a copy of the article sent to CityHousing. He was the one who put this up."

The area where the copies were posted, just opposite of the mailboxes on the building's first floor, was very often frequented by tenants and guests, Jackson testified.

Jackson said he saw the articles on the board and walked past them. He never knew who took them down.

They weren't there the next day," he testified.

Bell admitted at trial he pinned the articles up but claimed it was done without malice.

CityHousing did not respond when asked if a property manager confronted Bell about the articles.

Nor did they say whether the building's first-floor camera - which would have captured Bell either pinning the articles up on the notice board or exiting the elevator and walking past the mailboxes - was ever reviewed.

The incident left Marilyn feeling helpless and distraught.

I have already passed in to housing all the details, including my calls to police," she wrote in a complaint to CityHousing dated December 2015, making note of the names and badge numbers of the patrol officers who responded to her apartment.

I received a call from housing and they said it was a police matter. Police told him to stay away from me ...

I am terrified of when he will come back."

CityHousing said it is protocol to have property managers call police in cases of violent or criminal behaviour between tenants.

I can confirm that happened in this case," said spokesperson Giancarlo.

Bell was questioned but never charged in the five times Hamilton police responded to Marilyn's apartment.

Spokesperson Jackie Penman said the changes the police service made to its criminal harassment policy in response to Marilyn's murder were designed to improve how victim complaints are processed and reviewed.

In 2016, criminal harassment complaints were investigated only by patrol officers and cleared by a supervisor. It was not mandatory to flag complaints for the criminal investigation unit.

Now, divisional detectives must review all criminal harassment cases," said Penman. If the cases are domestic-related, they are also reviewed by the domestic violence unit.

We recognize harassing behaviour can often be risk factors in domestic violence and it is important steps are taken at the outset to mitigate any risks to the victims."

You're going to get yours'

In late July 2016, on a Tuesday night around 8:30 p.m., a frantic Marilyn called Christopher.

Her voice was shaking.

Earlier that evening, she told him, Bell knocked on her front door. She opened it just a crack before he forced his way in.

An argument ensued.

Marilyn told Christopher that Bell raised his hand as if to her hit her.

She screamed.

A neighbour across the hall overheard the commotion and threatened to call police.

Bell, several witnesses testified at trial, uttered five words to Marilyn before he left: You're going to get yours."

Marilyn was found dead five days later.

That brief, panic-stricken phone call was the last time Christopher spoke to his mother.

Years have passed, but he still remembers the fear in her voice and how it trembled. He remembers the frustration he felt knowing the man his mother was afraid of had for months been the lone subject of multiple complaints to the housing authority and police. He remembers the sorrow - and guilt - that followed.

It's never going to leave me," Christopher said in a recent interview. Some nights, I sit up awake and can't sleep for hours. I think of what if I did this or did that - would it have made a difference?"

He wishes he would have called police, including the night of that last phone call. He wishes he pressed CityHousing harder after his initial emails to the agency concerning Bell went unanswered.

I wish I would've gone over there. I wish I would've done something," he said. It's my mistake and I got to live with that for the rest of my life."

Marilyn was a lonely, but independent woman, Christopher said. She liked handling things on her own. She hated trouble.

She wanted to handle it herself and she thought someone was going to do something for her," Christopher said. By the end of it, she just gave up."

When Christopher would tell Marilyn to call police, she told him not to worry and it was under control.

When Christopher would ask Marilyn if she wanted him to confront Bell, she told him to stay away for his own safety.

Yet behind a concerned son's pleas was a mother who continued to live in a world of abuse from which there was no escape. Who left behind a paper trail of evidence so others could one day understand.

I am a quiet woman and I have no enemies in this building."

I feel like a prisoner."

I am terrified of when he will come back."

Please, please help me."

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com