Matthew Hebb would be 27 years old now: a son, a grandson, and a father to an eight-year-old boy.

His mother is still waiting for answers about who killed her son and why.

It’s a case that went cold for almost five years, but just when Hebb’s family thought they’d get justice through a trial, the accused in the case died.

Then, last week, the family learned an individual who tipped off police in the case received money for their tip -- despite there being no conviction.

When Hebb died in December 2012, police called it a homicide from the start. Here’s a timeline of the case beginning from that fateful day.

  • It was on Dec. 12, 2012 when the bodies of  22-year-old Hebb and 59-year-old Earle Stewart were found in a burned-out cabin in Sheet Harbour. The two were from Spryfield, N.S., and were friends who had gone to look for Christmas trees.
  • Six days later, two people were arrested, but released the next day.
  • In March 2017, the same people were arrested, and released, a second time.
  • Then, on Aug. 10 of last year, Karen and Elmer Higgins were arrested a third time and formally charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
  • In early February, charges were dropped against Karen Higgins. 
  • Four days later, her husband, died of “natural causes” four days before his trial was scheduled to begin.

It was a devastating blow for Kirtley Beaver, Hebb’s mother. Then, two weeks ago, she received a call from the detective on the case.

“Instantly, I just got very excited thinking, ‘oh, something new!’” Beaver said. “That was when he informed me that the reward was going to be paid.”

Police have said charges against Elmer Higgins stuck the third time because of a tip they received in March 2017.

The individual behind the tip was recently paid $100,000 through Nova Scotia’s major unsolved crimes program.

“How can he justify paying a reward when we never had a conviction?” Beaver says.

On the website for the program it states that a reward of up to $150,000 is paid for information leading to “an arrest and conviction of person(s) responsible for specified major unsolved crimes.”

Elmer Higgins was only charged with Hebb and Stewart's murder, not convicted, because he never got his day in court.

The reward money comes from the province and Justice Minister Mark Furey defended the payout.

“There was a decision, and I believe appropriate, that a payout be made -- although reduced,” Furey said.

“There was an assessment of this particular matter and the facts of the file, believed to be a high probability of conviction. And to maintain the integrity of that particular program, it's important that that information is respected.”

A defence lawyer with the Nova Scotia Criminal Lawyers Association says Elmer Higgins wasn’t proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore still considered to be innocent. 

The Nova Scotia RCMP say the case is open and the investigation is ongoing.

“Nobody’s behind bars and my son’s still gone,” Beaver said.

For years, Beaver thought her greatest heartache was losing a child.

Now, she fears she’ll never get justice for that loss.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.