The cameras were rolling as a man entered the room. He had a ski mask on and held a crow bar. He demanded money and then with one swift movement, slammed the crow bar down on a man laying in bed.
The drama is not far from reality: it’s a re-enactment of a horrific attack that played out in Calgary’s southeast on April 13.
Judy Brandson and Merle Zwarich were asleep in their home when a man forced his way in through the back door just after midnight.
“We were both in bed and I had seen someone going across the doorway. He says, ‘I want your money,’ I had to say ‘money? I haven’t got any money’. He comes into the bedroom and starts wailing on us,” Brandson said as she sat in her front yard Tuesday.
Both Brandson and Zwarich suffered extensive injuries. Brandson just started eating solid foods in July after the attack left her with a broken jaw.
All the more troubling, police believe the attacker may have gotten confused and broken into the “wrong” home.
Nearly five months later, there are still no arrests. Police have canvassed the neighbourhood, pored over surveillance video and sent evidence away for forensic analysis. Investigators are hoping Tuesday’s Crime Stoppers re-enactment will help trigger new leads.
“I’m definitely hoping someone may remember something that just sat in the back of their mind and they maybe just forgot to bring forward,” Schmidt said.
For Brandson, relief will come when her attacker is finally behind bars.
“You’re scared in your own home – which you shouldn’t be. I’m just glad that I hadn’t been killed. I’m still alive, I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.”