A Calgary man accused of tunnelling into his neighbour’s apartment says there is no evidence he was the one to create the hole between the two units.
Ben Edward Maize was arrested by Calgary police on Sept. 8, 2025, at the building in the city’s southwest Coach Hill neighbourhood. He is facing several charges, including one count of break and enter with intent to commit criminal harassment, one count of mischief to property over $5,000, and two counts of disobeying a court order.
Maize, 46, told a court on Jan. 19 that there was no evidence he was the one that created the tunnel or entered the upstairs unit belonging to his neighbour Betty Golightly, according to The Calgary Herald.
“The Crown has presented no proof I was ever in Ms. Golightly’s apartment,” Maize said.
“There is no proof I caused the damage to the flooring between our homes … or in her apartment.”
He said renovations had been done to balconies in the condo unit, saying there was existing scaffolding and workers present that could have gained access.
He also told the court that he had no deadbolt on his door, suggesting anyone could have accessed the unit.
Maize represented himself during the trial, though Golightly was questioned by an amicus lawyer appointed by the court.
Golightly said she arrived home on Sept. 5, 2025, and found her unit’s latch was was engaged from the inside, preventing her entry. After her brother-in-law sawed off the latch, she entered her home to find a large hole in the wall and floor next to her fireplace, appearing to lead to a tunnel to Maize’s unit below.
Golightly told Justice Eric Tolppanen that she had feared her neighbour after an incident on July 10, when she arrived home and heard some banging on her floor that appeared to follow her as she walked around her apartment. She said she believed it was Maize banging on his ceiling.
She said she had been staying on and off with her sister and brother-in-law because she feared for her safety “from the neighbour below.”
She also told the court when she discovered the damage to her unit, she noticed other things out of place, including the pantry door was open and a table had been moved. Some lingerie had also been moved from the back of a drawer to the front.
The prosecuting attorney, Petter Hurich noted there was “animus” between Golightly and Maize, and added that it was “a very unusual set of circumstances” for there to be a passageway between the units.
Hurich argued the only explanation was that it was “made by someone with access to these two residences.”
The judge is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.
Calgary Police Service Inspector Keith Hurley previously called the incident a “deeply disturbing violation” of personal space and security. He said that it “shatters the fundamental sense of safety we all deserve in our own residences.”
