Matthew Maxwell had a violent and turbulent relationship with his mother which ended when 73-year-old Colleen Maxwell was found dead, lying in the fifth-floor hallway of her Regent Park housing cooperative on Aug. 29, 2018.
On Tuesday, almost three-and-a-half years after his arrest, Matthew Maxwell, now 40, was sentenced to 15 years in a penitentiary minus nine months credit for restrictive conditions he’s endured during incarceration due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maxwell was also given credit for showing remorse by apologizing and pleading guilty to manslaughter, saving his family what would have surely been a traumatic trial.
On the day of the incident, paramedics arrived at the Cornwall Street apartment after Matthew Maxwell called 911 reporting that he believed his mother was dead. They found Matthew in the corner of the hallway visibly upset, crying and sweating.
An odour of alcohol was detected on his breath and he advised that he had recently consumed beer and crack cocaine, and said he hadn’t slept in several days.
His mother, who was naked from the waist up with a nightgown laid on top to cover her, had obvious signs of trauma to her face and neck and was visibly bruised and swollen. She had two lacerations to her scalp. Her left toes showed signs of rigor. Matthew advised paramedics that he had been with his mother but provided conflicting and implausible explanations for her injuries. He was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree murder.
A post-mortem later found that Colleen Maxwell died of multiple blunt force injuries. “Put in common language, Mr. Maxwell beat his mother to death,” said Justice John McMahon, who called it a case of violent elder abuse and a domestic homicide, given that Matthew frequently lived with his mom.
By pleading guilty to manslaughter, Matthew Maxwell admitted that he inflicted the injuries that led to his mother’s death though according to court documents, “the reason he did so remains unknown.”
According to an agreed statement of facts, just one week before her death, Colleen Maxwell told the staff in her building that she was anxious and concerned about her son’s behavior.
The elder Maxwell suffered from medical conditions including anxiety/depression, incontinence, hypertension and rheumatism, relied on a walker for her mobility and the daily help of a personal support worker.
Office staff assisted her in contacting an elder abuse number, and provided contact numbers for a shelter she could contact. On the night before her death, Ms. Maxwell confided to her good friend that she was afraid of her son Matthew.
Court heard the strained relationship between the pair began when Matthew was just five years old, when he was removed from his family home and put in an orphanage.
He moved through seven foster homes and began using drugs, developing a co-dependent relationship with his mother.
Matthew Maxwell’s lawyer Jessyca Greenwood told the court that Maxwell dropped out of school in Grade 10 and suffered from periods of homelessness, chronic mental health and drug abuse.
According to the statement of facts, trauma Matthew suffered during his time in foster care led to bitterness and resentment towards his mother, which led to PTSD and further drug abuse.
In the years prior to her death, Colleen had relayed to friends that Matthew would get angry with her if she did not give him money to support his crack cocaine addiction.
Despite suggestions by multiple people that she consider options such as a restraining order or a trespass order, Colleen declined to pursue those options. In 2003, Matthew Maxwell was convicted of mischief and threatening to kill his mother. “Though a significant gap, it would appear there was a period of abuse in the time leading up to her killing,” said McMahon.
In handing down his oral reasons for sentence, McMahon said Colleen Maxwell never got help for the ongoing abuse.
“What resulted was the tragic loss of an innocent woman at the hands of her son.”
Maxwell was also ordered to give a sample for the DNA databank, to undergo counselling for drug and alcohol addiction and faces a lifetime weapons ban. McMahon also asked Maxwell if he had been vaccinated to which he replied no, offering to put a note on his file requesting vaccination as he enters the federal system.
“You may not be aware that most people in our ICUs and on ventilators are the unvaccinated. All I can do is give you the opportunity to do the right thing for yourself and the community,” urged McMahon.
After credit for pre-trial custody, Matthew Maxwell will be eligible for parole in nine years and three months.
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