Dead woman's daughter boasted of natural treatments in interview with police

Elene Collins was treated with natural supplementsand bubble baths before she was admitted to hospital with multiple injuries, where medical staff suspected neglect, a Brandon, Man., courtroom heard on Thursday.

Court heard directly from Rae Deutscher, 60, in the form of a statement she gave to Brandon police in 2015, before she was charged in her mom's death. She has pleaded not guilty to failing to provide the necessaries of life to her mother, who was under her charge.

Brandon police Const. Jeffrey Hoadconducted the interview, which lasted more than an hour. It was part of the investigation into Collins' care, which started before she died.

At first, Deutscher told Hoad she was scared and couldn't believe what was happening. She was given the opportunity to call a lawyer before he started asking questions about Collins' care under her charge.

"My entire life, like, I have been with my mom at Christmas every year of my life I have been extremely close with my mom," Deutscher told Hoad. "You have no idea If I hadn't moved her to Brandon she would have died."

Deutscher, who broke down in tears a number of times during the interview, talked about how dedicated she was to her mother and that she only wanted to help her mom when she moved her to Brandon from Saskatoon in 2013.

I talked to a holistic doctor and a homeopathic doctor and she told me what to do.- Rae Deutscher

She also talked about spending hours with her every day, taking time off work, to feed her and prepare meals and boastedabout her all-natural lifestyle.

"I knew my mom would not survive in a home because she needed me to help her to eat," she told Hoad. "I had her on all-natural and all the natural made her be able to eat."

Deutscher also talked about how she took her mom for reiki, a Japanese healing technique that is said to relax and de-stress people, and gave her supplements and bubble baths with oil and lotion to help lessen the effects of dementia.

She also suggested her mom starved to death while in the hospital because she wouldn't eat the food, also suggesting there was a court case to be had against the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

Hoad had to bring the interview back on track several times after Deutscher would sidetrack into stories about her or her mother's life and travels. He had to ask repeatedly how her mom sustained the fractures, bruising and brain bleeds that eventually led to her hospitalization and why she wasn't taken to a doctor sooner.

"I talked to a holistic doctor and a homeopathic doctor and she told me what to do,"Deutscher said. "She was never in pain. She slept like a baby."

"I've got concerns about what your mother was going to though to the point that when Brandon police showed up at your door," Hoad said. "That wasn't the result of a phone call from you. That was other people with concerns about your mom's well-being that we showed up there."

Deutscher said she was planning to take Collins to the emergency room.

"I wanted to strengthen my mom before I ever bought her to the place," she told Hoad. "I was giving her iron before that."

"You knew she fell off the toilet," Hoad said, referring toone of the falls Collins supposedly took. "You knew she fell and hit her shoulder."

"It's not like I've got a really beautiful, cushiony rug," Deutscher replied.

Doctors testify

A doctor who treated Collins testified earlier on Thursday that she had multiple injuries and suspected she was being neglected by her daughter.

Dr. Barbara Kelleher cared for Collins at the Brandon Regional Health Centre for four days after she was admitted to the hospital in November 2014and the three days before shedied on Dec. 24, 2014.

She and Dr. Jacie Grobb, the emergency room physician who was the first to see Collins when she arrived at the Brandon hospital on Nov. 26, 2014, both testified that Collins' case stood out.

"She had fractures and head injuries and bruises and scrapes and marks," Kellehersaid."She was also very emaciated. It wasn't right."

Both described large bruises over Collins' body, including one in particular over her right eye, as well as fractured ribs and bleeding around the brain.

Collins went to the hospital after her granddaughter learned she had been living on the bathroom floor of Deutscher's home. Family called police and paramedics took Collins to the hospital.

On Wednesday, the trial heard from several family members. Chandra Hawkins, Deutscher'sdaughter, testified that she and other family members had become concerned on several occasions about the care Deutscher was providing to Collins and that the family twice contacted police.

Court hears 96-year-old woman with multiple injuries neglected by daughter

6 years ago

Duration 1:50

Rae Deutscher has pleaded not guilty to failing to provide the necessaries of life to her mother, who was under her charge.

The family first contacted police in June 2014 with concerns about her care, but an assessment by a geriatric mental health team found no concerns.

The family called police again in November 2014, after Hawkins learned Collins' condition had worsened and she had been living in a duvet on the bathroom floor in Deutscher's home.

She died less than a month later in hospital.

Hawkins testified that her mom had refused to take Collins to a doctor after she moved her from Saskatoon to Brandon in 2013and instead had her on a number of vitamins and supplements.

Neglect suspected

Kelleher testified Thursday that she had reviewed Collins' medical chart and it showed just one doctor'svisit, soon after she moved to Brandon, and no others until she arrived at the hospital.

She said concerns were raised about the age of some of the fractures and injuries and the lack of medical care.

"Her power of attorney was the person we felt had been neglecting her," Kelleher testified,adding that medical staff had tried to get her care signed over to a public trustee under the VulnerablePersons Act. Deutscher held Collins' power of attorney at the time.

Kelleher said she met with Deutscher on Nov. 28, 2014, along with a social worker, to try to ascertain when and how the injuries occurred

"From what I could tell, she had tripped [on a rug], and that was approximately maybe two months or more ago was all I got," Kelleher said, based on what she was told by Deutscher. "And then she had fallen backwards. Her daughter described it as she was seeing if she could walk.

"She was very vague," Kellehertestified."I did get the gist that she left her while she went to work, sitting on the couch with a blanket, and she would be there until she got home."

Deutscher never called for help or took her mother to the emergency room, Kelleher said.

"She never sought home care when she was not able to tend to her."

Kelleher also testified that Collins was given comfort care in the hospital, but was never well enough to leave.

Grobbordered bloodwork, a CT scan and X-rays for Collins, court heard. She also consulted a neurosurgeon, but it was decided that surgery would not be a good route, as Collins was old and frail and likely would not survive due to her condition.

On cross-examination, defence lawyer Andrew Synyshynreiteratedto Grobb and the court several times that Collins was 96 and some of her medical issues could have arisen due to her advanced age.

Grobb and Kelleher testified that tests of Collins' heart and respiratory systems were normal, as was her blood work. Her pupils were also reactive, she testified when asked by Synyshyn.

The Crown closed its case against Deutscher on Thursday.

The trial is expected to wrap up on Friday.