OTTAWA — A 30 year-old man is accused of killing his wheelchair-bound mother after her body was found in a burnt-out apartment in the Bayshore area early Tuesday morning.

Rene Goudreau, 30, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother, 53-year-old Lucie Goudreau.

Goudreau’s death is Ottawa’s sixth homicide of 2012.

Her body was found at about 2:30 a.m. after a “suspicious” fire broke out in her ground floor unit of an apartment building at 90 Woodridge Cr.

The fire, which was confined to the victim’s bedroom, quickly escalated to a two-alarm fire.

The Ottawa police major crime and arson units were called in to investigate, along with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office. An autopsy will be conducted to determine how Goudreau died.

Her son, Rene Goudreau, appeared in an Ottawa courtroom just before 6 p.m. Tuesday wearing a black jumpsuit that was ripped and unbuttoned, revealing a bare chest and patches of black hair.

He chewed gum and slouched over in the prisoner’s box, smiling at the reporters in the gallery who were taking notes.

Goudreau was remanded into custody for a court appearance Wednesday morning after meeting with a forensic psychiatrist.

Goudreau chatted about martial arts and black belts, trying to engage conversation with the guards as he was escorted out of the courtroom.

Defence lawyer Doug Baum said that his client has a history of mental health problems.

“You can see that my client is incoherent,” Baum said. “I need him to be seen by a doctor.”

Crown prosecutor Mark Moors requested a publication ban on evidence, which was granted.

According to court records, a man with the same name and of the same age was convicted of assault on June 5, 2006, and sentenced to 15 months’ probation.

Police remained at the scene of the fire throughout the day Tuesday and had cordoned off the apartment with yellow crime scene tape.

Black scorch marks scarred the wall outside the rear unit where the fire broke out, causing about $20,000 in damage. A window screen from the apartment unit sat on the grass next to the charred unit. Resident Brenda Saad said she was awakened by the fire in the middle of the night.

“I’m just happy the fire crews got here quickly and efficiently,” said Saad, who lives on the third floor. “It smelled pretty bad and we had to evacuate our apartment. We have two kids and we went outside into the cold and stayed in our car,” she said.

She said about half of the building was evacuated, probably of more than 60 people.

“This hits pretty close to home,” she said.

Jesse Ward, 28, a sixth-floor resident of the 90 Woodridge Cres. highrise, was in bed sleeping when he woke up to the smell of smoke.

Ward said he looked out the window and saw black smoke billowing from a window a few floors down.

“I noticed the intense smoke before the alarm went off,” Ward said.

He woke up his mother and told her they needed to get out of the building, he said.

It was a shock for Ward to learn that the victim was his friend’s mother.

Ward said he first met the accused when he was 14 through their love of skateboarding, although they had recently lost touch.

When Goudreau was kicked out of his parents’ apartment, he lived with Ward until he could find his own place.

Ward said, Goudreau battled with mental illness and had been in and out of the Royal Ottawa Hospital.

“He was never stable enough to hold a job,” Ward said.

mhurley@ottawacitizen.com

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