A crowbar, blood stains and scattered belongings: A Burlington woman speaks out about what she’ll ‘never unsee’ after entering her late husband’s apartment

When Mary Dilly walked into her husband's Burlington apartment for the first time since he was found dead in mid-June, she expected to pick up the sorts of things you might need as an executor of a will - a wallet, car keys, documentation.

Instead, she came away with a sight she said she'll never unsee."

A crowbar and shovel flanked by a chunk of some two-dozen wooden tiles yanked out of the floor. A couch flipped on its side, wrapped in plastic. A mop in a pool of dirty water mixed with human waste. Bloodstains on the ground, used masks and latex gloves next to them. Jugs of heavy-duty disinfectant on the counter. Belongings scattered all over the place.

I couldn't believe it," said Dilly, who visited the Prospect Street apartment with her two kids, both in their early 30s. I will never unsee that and neither will my kids.

We were devastated."

On some level, Dilly knew she was walking into an emotional environment - but not one that would leave her traumatized.

David Malcolmson - Dilly's longtime husband whom she'd separated from but remained very close with, raising children together and living on the same block - had already been dead three to four weeks before his body was discovered June 17 after a neighbour tipped off his building's owner about an overwhelming stench. Halton police told the family he died of heart failure, according to Dilly.

The 62-year-old was a good, caring father, Dilly said, funny and always nice to be around. In recent years, it wouldn't be unusual for him to not keep in touch for weeks at a time, leaving his wife and kids to believe nothing was amiss before his death.

We didn't even consider something bad had happened," Dilly said. He would take his breaks and we wouldn't hear from him, and it was just Dave being Dave."

Dilly wasn't permitted to enter Malcolmson's apartment until almost two weeks after he was found. She said his landlord, Effort Trust, told her his unit had to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before family got access.

On June 27, with the promise the apartment had been cleaned, the building's superintendent opened the door for Dilly and her two kids, leaving them just as they walked in.

We were in total shock," said Dilly, who took photos of the barely cleaned apartment and sent them to The Spectator. And then we were sad, really sad. This is Dave, a husband and a dad. It should've been handled with more dignity.

I'm still shaking now, still sick to my stomach," she added in an interview a few days later, audibly emotional. And I'm angry that Effort Trust didn't handle this properly and let us walk into that. How could you have told us we could go in, met us at the front door, let us into the apartment and then walk away? How could that have happened?"

Effort Trust said in a statement its standard protocol in a suite where a death has occurred is to retain the services of specialized (cleaning) technicians." They didn't directly address why a cleaning crew left a mess behind in Malcolmson's apartment, or why Dilly was permitted entrance without giving notice of its state.

In situations like this, there is always a fine balance between permitting the technicians to complete their work as quickly as possible and allowing the family access to the suite when requested," Ivan Murgic, director of residential operations at Effort Trust, said via email.

Given the sensitive nature of this case, we will not comment on specifics, but offer our sincere condolences to the family of the passing of their loved one."

Dilly said she wouldn't have entered the apartment had she known the condition it was in. She said she was never given a reason why her family was allowed premature access.

They didn't take any responsibility for this at all or seem to care about how it affected us," Dilly said. I just don't understand how this could happen, and I hold Effort Trust responsible more than the cleaners."

The horrific state of Malcolmson's apartment was top of mind for Dilly and her kids as they prepped for a celebration of life June 30.

We're picking up things at stores here and there, doing a celebration of life, and all we could see is that," she said.

Dilly said she's speaking out about the incident in hopes of preventing another grieving family from experiencing the same situation.

I just don't want this to happen to anyone else."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com