Surburban Toronto woman shot and killed, allegedly by estranged husband

Woman found dying of gunshot wound 45 minutes after police left her house

Sep 13, 2009 04:30 AM
Raveena Aulakh
[Toronto Star]Staff reporter
ORANGEVILLE–Cyril Donaldson was going to bed when a bloodied woman staggered through his front door, gasping for life and pleading for help.

"I've been shot by my husband – help me," Donaldson's neighbour begged as she collapsed in his arms around 1 a.m. yesterday. He cradled her as his 17-year-old granddaughter called 911.

Heidi Ferguson, 39, mother of two children, was airlifted to Sunnybrook hospital where she died of her injuries.

"I didn't think she would survive," said Donaldson. "She had lost too much blood," he said, pointing to the trail leading into his house.


At midnight, Orangeville police had been called to Ferguson's home on Westdale Ave. on a report of unknown trouble. When the officers got there, Ferguson told them the source of the trouble, her estranged husband, had left, according to an OPP spokesperson. About 45 minutes later, they were called back by Donaldson's granddaughter as Ferguson lay dying from her chest wounds.

Two hours later, her husband, Hugh Ferguson, 42, who had barricaded himself in his house in Mono Township, 13 kilometres north of Orangeville, shot himself as police surrounded the house. Determining what happened in those two crucial hours is now the task of the province's Special Investigations Unit.

Yesterday, Ontario Provincial Police Const. Peter Leon defended the actions of the Orangeville police, saying officers didn't misjudge the severity of the situation as there was no history of violence involving the couple.

"They (officers) were in the midst of an investigation after the first call," he said. "The gentleman had left and there was no indication the outcome was going to be what it was." Leon would not say if police had been called to Ferguson's home in the previous months, but said there was "no such behaviour in the past," referring to violence.

The husband is said by neighbours to have been an avid hunter who owned many firearms. Some speculated that he wanted to get back together with his wife, but that she wanted to move on. Neighbours on Westdale Ave., an affluent, tree-lined street, said Heidi Ferguson moved into the single-storey home about 14 months ago after separating from her husband.

Before moving in, she completely renovated the house. Their children, a 15-year-old boy and a 19-year-old daughter, who neighbours said just started studying at Ryerson University, lived with both parents. The Fergusons operated a business that bought, renovated and sold homes, and he used to visit her as often as twice a week but didn't speak to neighbours.

A police officer said the estranged husband picked up their 15-year-old son some time Friday night and dropped him at a friend's place in the town. The daughter was at Ryerson, said the police source.

A black SUV with the name of Ferguson's company, www.suitedreamdesignteam, stood in the driveway cordoned off by yellow police tape. A cellphone, covered by a cardboard box, lay in the grass between the two driveways. The porch lights were still on in Ferguson's home and the blinds were closed.

Ferguson worked from home. If there was trouble between the Fergusons, Donaldson said he didn't hear of it. He last spoke to Ferguson on Thursday evening when she was leaving and he was coming home.

"She said hello, asked how my wife was ... that's it," said Donaldson, 73, whose wife uses a wheelchair. Ferguson was very friendly and often chatted with him, his daughter and two granddaughters but "if there was any problem, she would never talk about it," he said.

Pam Hillock, who lives across the street, didn't hear the gunfire, but was startled by the arrival on the street of at least three police cruisers shortly after 1 a.m. yesterday.

"It came pretty out of the blue ... you know, there were no loud fights, nothing.

"My heart goes out to the two kids."

At the estranged husband's sprawling million-dollar home in Mono Township, a lone black pick-up truck stood in the driveway as an OPP cruiser guarded the scene.

The SIU team, which had been called at 6 a.m., left the scene at 3 p.m.

A "For Sale by Owner" sign hung outside the brown brick house, which has a three-car attached garage.

Neighbours said they didn't hear any gunfire, but woke up to a large police presence.

"We didn't know what (had) happened till we heard it on the radio," one neighbour said.

"It's so tragic."