Woman agrees in court that rape reports were untrue

Crown, defence suggest 35-year-old may suffer from hallucinations

An Edmonton woman accused of falsely telling police she had been tied up and raped by an armed intruder tearfully testified Wednesday that she still believes it happened.

Taking the witness stand in her own defence, Heather Ann Marchand, 35, conceded that she is admitting that the various reports she made to police were untrue, but then sobbed as she spoke of being haunted by memories of the sexual attack.

“It haunts me,” said Marchand. “I think about it all the time. I dream about it.”

Marchand also agreed with defence lawyer George Lebessis that she might have been experiencing “hallucinations and delusions” at the time as a result of antidepressant medication she was taking.

As well, the single mother admitted she is an alcoholic and was drinking excessively at some points during the 2014 time frame, but denied suggestions that she had made the false reports in an effort to “get attention” from her former husband.

Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Stephanie Brown, Marchand maintained she still believes the incidents occurred.

“Deep down I feel these things are real and they still feel real to me,” said Marchand.

And while she accepted that an agreed statement of facts in the case states that none of the events reported by her to police ever took place, she says she has no memory of doing all of the things herself or can’t recall.

“There was a man in my home who did it,” Marchand said. “In my head, there was another person there. He cut me up. He tied me up.”

Marchand has pleaded not guilty to five counts of public mischief.

According to the agreed facts, Marchand reported five offences during a three-and-a-half-month period in 2014.

In the first one, she said a man tried to sexually assault her, but she fought him off. In the second, she claimed she was tied to the oven, raped and cut with a knife. In the third one, she alleged the man left her a note with a heart sticker on it and in the fourth one, she said she shot the man while he was attempting to sexually assault her.

The fifth incident happened at Pigeon Lake and involved the same man tying her up to a truck and running off after calling her names.

Court heard the RCMP were skeptical about the alleged crime at Pigeon Lake and called Edmonton police. A public mischief investigation then began and resulted in her being charged.

Court also heard at least 45 police units and 119 police officers were involved in the investigations into the false reports, as well as at least 23 outside agencies and 36 non-police officers. The total cost of the investigations was estimated to be $188,000.

The trial continues Thursday.