(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Home Invasion

“I’m gonna kill you and your kids”: police investigate home invasion

Dec 11, 2019 | 5:22 PM

A woman who was attacked in her home Monday night, while her three young children stood nearby, claims she has no idea why a stranger came to her door.

Reina Morin, 29, was still quite shaken when she shared her story with paNOW. She explained not more than five minutes after her brother had left the apartment, one of her sons came to her bedroom and informed her there was a man at the door. When Morin went to take a look, she said there was a man slouching in the doorway, wearing only his underwear.

“I said excuse me can you please get out of my place and he got up aggressively in my face and said why should I leave,” she said.

“He grabbed my neck more to try and make me be quiet” _{– Reina Morin}

When Morin attempted to open the door wider to let the man out, she claims he grabbed her and pushed her against the door frame, pinning her arm behind her back, and then put his other arm around her neck.

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“He was yelling and threatening me, saying I’m gonna kill you and your kids,” she said.

Morin’s three sons range in age from four to 10 years old. She recalled her oldest son came running from the kitchen, holding a knife and yelled “leave my mom alone.” While continuing to struggle with the stranger, Morin said she instructed her son to drop the knife and call 911. Morin then continued her owns screams for help.

“He grabbed my neck more to try and make me be quiet and he was swearing at me, saying shut up,” Morin said.

When the son’s attempts to call 911 failed , he ran for help upstairs. The stranger attempted to grab the boy but failed, and opted instead to try and run away. Morin then called police herself and the stranger was soon after arrested by police.

Aiden Gordon Bates, 21, faces two charges of assault and one charge of break-and-enter in connection to the incident. At his court appearance Tuesday, Bates was released from custody on strict conditions and has been scheduled to make his next court appearance Jan. 6 at Prince Albert Provincial Court.

Morin said she did not know her attacker, and claimed police told her they had no idea how he got inside. Kris Figurski, Regional Director for Weidner Apartments, explained to paNOW the man had gained entry to the building, by knowing someone who lived there.

When paNOW went to the building on Wednesday, the door to Building C was easily opened from the outside. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

“The doors themselves are functioning, and the lock mechanisms work,” Figurski said, adding management has been dealing with “challenges.”

He explained residents in the building have been sticking items like cigarette butts in the locking mechanism, to prevent the doors from closing when they go outside for a cigarette. Figurski said the care takers do their best each day to clean out the locks.

“We do the best on our end to try and keep the building safe and secure, and like i said sometimes there’s challenges involved with that,” he said.

–

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell