A Red Deer man who attacked his ex-girlfriend’s father was found guilty of aggravated assault in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday.
Justice Marilyn Slawinsky also found Linden Joseph Lee Buffalo guilty of mischief under $5,000 for smashing his girlfriend’s phone on the floor during what the judge described as an “escalating alcohol-fuelled domestic dispute” on Aug. 6, 2017.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
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Buffalo was originally charged with attempted murder after stabbing Travis Peterson in the neck and hip round 5 a.m. at Buffalo’s home.
The charge was later reduced to aggravated assault and went to trial last month.
Shalyn Peterson testified that she and Buffalo had gone out to a club around midnight, where they were drinking. They continued to drink when they came home and an argument erupted that escalated to the point that she tried to call police.
Buffalo snatched her cellphone away and smashed it on the floor and did the same with his own, and threatened suicide.
Peterson retreated to a bathroom and reached her father on her iPad, telling him that Buffalo was drunk and she was afraid he was going to kill her.
Travis Peterson was soon there and walked into a bedroom where Buffalo was pretending to be asleep and punched him once in the face. As Peterson left the room, Buffalo stabbed him with a kitchen knife in the neck and hip.
Peterson tried to close the door, but couldn’t, and Buffalo continued attacking him in the hall and into the kitchen, where Peterson sliced his hand open trying to wrest away the knife.
He then ran out of the suite and joined his daughter, who had already fled with her infant son. A heavily bleeding Peterson drove to hospital with his daughter and grandchild.
In her decision, Slawinsky said the evidence of aggravated assault could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt on the first two stabbings. Attacked in his bed by an intruder — there was no evidence Buffalo knew at first it was Shalyn’s father who punched him — Buffalo’s violent response was not unreasonable.
However, Buffalo’s continued attack on Travis Peterson, who had identified himself and repeatedly called Buffalo by name, was “unreasonable and excessive.” That brawl led to Peterson’s sliced hand and constituted aggravated assault, she said.
The defence have asked that a pre-sentence report be prepared, along with a Gladue Report, which are available to help the court determine appropriate sentences for First Nations and Metis offenders.
Buffalo was released from custody until sentencing.
pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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