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It may not be the biggest We Day event, but it will be organized with heart. See Page A3
FRIDAY
JANUARY 18 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com
Man found guilty of killing estranged wife Wanda Chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
A man had to be rescued by firefighters when he became trapped by the clutter he had hoarded in his home on Mandy Avenue.
Hoarder rescued from under clutter Wanda Chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
A Burnaby senior was rescued Monday night by Burnaby firefighters who had to cut him free from his clutter with a chainsaw. Burnaby RCMP received a call at about 10 p.m. from someone who had not been able to reach the man for a couple of days, said Corp. Dave Reid. Police were told the man was not answering his phone, had been ill and had mental health issues related to hoarding. Burnaby Mounties went to
the home in the 6900-block of Mandy Avenue with Burnaby Fire Department and an ambulance. “We made verbal contact with the guy but he basically told us he was trapped underneath a whole pile of debris, couldn’t get out, couldn’t move, hadn’t moved in a couple of days,” Reid said. So the rescuers kicked in the door, and firefighters used a chainsaw to cut through the clutter to get to him and free him. The man, in his 70s, was taken to Burnaby Hospital with a “severe
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injury” to a leg, which had been trapped underneath him, cutting off circulation to it for a couple of days, Reid said. He was suffering from dehydration and there was reportedly no heat or electricity in the home. “Had no one called, we would have found him down the road and it would’ve been a lot more tragic.” It was a serious case of hoarding, he said. The clutter was “floor to ceiling in every room, on both floors. So it was bad.”
While police sometimes go into homes with a lesser degree of hoarding, “this is an extreme case, you don’t see these too often.” Hoarding is a symptom of a mental illness, Reid said. If the man has no family to look after him, under the Mental Health Act, social services could get involved. The house has been the subject of complaints in the past about unsightly premises.
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A 44-year-old Burnaby man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2009 stabbing death of his estranged wife. She was killed in front of three of their five children who were aged three, seven and 10 at the time. A publication ban has been imposed on the names of all those involved, who are referred to by their initials in Monday’s court judgment. The victim, L.V., was killed Sept. 21, 2009 at her home in South Burnaby. Their three daughters were home at the time while their sons, aged 14 and 16, were at school. The defendant, O.V., had been living in a separate residence in Burnaby for about two months. His wife and children planned to move to a new address the following month without informing O.V., according to the reasons for judgment by Justice Catherine Bruce, and packing boxes and materials would have been evident in the house.
Please see KILLER, A4