[RATSMAGIC]

I am aware this story is a few years old, but I just discovered it yesterday and despite finding endless articles on it, I am still TOTALLY baffled and can make no sense of it.

Does anyone have any info I might have missed that explains WHY THE HELL this guy did not just leave this lunatic? According to details, the abuse had been going on for quite some time and he certainly could have left and returned to his family at any time.

Also doesn't sound like drugs were involved on the victims end, at least not as much as to incapacitate him. Was it a kind of blackmail resulting from a secret sexual affair?

[rob666]

He ratted on a bunch of HA's.........

[RATSMAGIC]

but that still doesn't explain why he didn't escape or go to the cops in the loooong, drawn out abuse period. People saw him walking around, going to work, etc, with bruises & worsening condition for months (and making excuses for it) before he was dumped at the hospital. Doesn't sound like HA style at all...

[butterfly]

What happened?
Here is the information we have to the best of our knowledge: Back in late September, 2009, Dustin was first taken to the hospital in Calgary for what we were eventually told were “workplace-related injuries.” We were finally told of his hospitalization in November and that a freezer had fallen on him, which would be in line with the type of work he was in; moving. There were many attempts made to communicate with him but he kept brushing off the injuries as “no big deal.” An attempt to speak to him via Skype was turned down because he “wasn’t allowed” to download the program onto his roomate’s computer. The family lost contact with Dustin in early February 2010. There were many attempts to find him and get into contact with him at various times, to no avail. We tried to file Missing Persons reports but were told it didn’t yet have merit. Finally, once Dustin didn’t show up for his best friend/cousin Marcel’s wedding in April, we filed again, including online reporting. On April 14th, we were passed a message that Dustin was supposed to be working at a remote farm in LeDuc, Alberta that didn’t have cell or phone access and that attempts were in progress to get him to a phone. On April 16th, 2010, he was dropped off at the Regina hospital near death.

Who is responsible?
The only person who maintained he was with Dustin the whole time – and who was the person who dropped him off at the hospital – was his roomate, Dustin ward Paxton. If nothing else, Paxton will have information very valuable to the case and needs to be found ASAP.


Does he have a large family?
Depends on what you call large . Dustin has three brothers, a daughter, a mom, several loving step-fathers, best friends and close cousins. And of course, 40,000+ people pulling for him on Facebook!


Is it true you’re denying he is a father and keeping his little girl from him?
Absolutely not.

Dustin has been through a horrifying ordeal that not only changed his appearance drastically, it has changed how he sounds (talks), his memory and some behaviours. Dustin’s daughter simply cannot “show up” unprepared. Working closely with a Social Worker, a plan for re-introduction was drawn up that includes the necessity of her visiting a trauma counselor both before and after her visit. Once his daughter’s mother shows proof of the pre-counseling having taken place as well as a confirmed post-visit appointment set up, arrangements for getting Dustin’s daughter to the hospital are in place. Understandably, any dates or times of his daughter’s visit will NOT be advertised online as we are not only trying to keep her out of the media but also don’t want to let the perpetrator of this crime know of the plans since he is still at large.


What about donating?
An arms-length trust fund has been established to help support Dustin’s immediate and future needs. This is the ONLY fund with which the LaFortune family is associated. Once this is set up it will be announced on this site and any other venues through which people have asked us to communicate.

Any other funds established by third parties are outside the LaFortune family’s purview. The family has no knowledge of said funds’ status, trusteeship, safeguards against misuse, etc., and the LaFortune family cannot provide any assurance whatsoever that donated funds to those accounts will be used for the purpose intended by the donor. People who choose to donate to these other funds are of course welcome to do so.

You can learn more about donating here.

How should I pray for Dustin? What religion does he want us to acknowledge?
Support and love are non-denominational: you are more than welcome to express your feelings through your own spirituality and beliefs.

But… Dustin’s face is all full in the original pictures – how could he only weigh 90lbs??
What you are seeing is the swelling from all the injuries.

Why did this happen? For what purpose?? What did he do to deserve this? He must have done something…
We really, really don’t know why this happened. To suggest that anyone deserves such treatment, or did something to make someone mad enough to dole out such treatment really is an abusive mindset. No one ever deserves to go through that nightmare.

Where is the iPad; since he can talk now, what’s going to happen?
It’s still around. It was in the hospital briefly at the beginning, however, since Dustin wasn’t able to provide adequate care of it on his own and since the hospital staff couldn’t watch it around the clock, they asked that it be removed from his room until he was able to take 100% responsibility for it on his own. So, the iPad was removed because of Hospital Liability Policies concerning the loss and/or theft of valuables.

Also, while he can talk *now*, he still has many surgeries to his face and mouth to come – he will need it to communicate then, too. In the meantime, as he improves, it will help keep him entertained through games, reading (and once we get wifi access, his Facebook page!), memory exercises and cognitive function exercises etc while he’s in the hospital for the months/years it is going to take to get him better.

What happened to the discussion board?
It needed to be taken down, and we’re very sorry it came to that. There seem to be a few people out there who have made it their mission to make the LaFortune’s lives as miserable as possible, even on top of what has happened. We can only speculate as to why; we are hoping that it isn’t the work of the perpetrator of this heinous crime because then everyone involved in the harassment would then be deemed to have taken part in the terror, and that would mean it would all become part of the investigation.

All the well-wishes for Dustin were kept and will be passed on to him. Once things seem to be running smoothly, there is a possibility of the discussion board being reopened.

How can we get messages to Dustin?
You can get a message to Dustin one of three ways. First, you can use the contact form on this site as all those messages are being kept to be given to him. Second, you can leave a message on the wall of his Facebook group since once he gets internet access, he’ll no doubt be going through the whole thing! On top of that, the wonderful people at PostEgram are sponsoring newsletters made up of all the Facebook wall well-wishes, so he will get them to read! Third, he is allowed to receive postcards (no envelopes), those can

[minka1]

Wow. Utterly disturbing!

[deanmine]

hope this works...

[Sterlig]

This is so strange, Canadian too. Yeah, I wonder what the fuck? Coming from the circle I come from, it'd be normal for an avid user of harder drugs to start deteriorating like this guy's explaining but normally, in my experience, people are quick to offer up the root of the problem.

Unless this is some breaking bad shit I don't know. It's been what, three years now since this came to light and nothing's being said?

[deanmine]

its a situation of domestic violence i think these two were a couple... thats the only scenario that makes any sense

[Kerri]

I had never heard of this but damn, what humans are capable of perpetuating on one another. Bless this guy's heart!

[deanmine]

CALGARY - A man accused of torturing a one-time roommate and business
partner was found guilty Monday of assaulting a former employee who
testified at his trial.

Queen's Bench Justice Sheilah Martin said
she believed Dustin Paxton uttered threats and used a dog leash to whip
worker Abraham Chutta.

"I accept that these incidents happened," Martin said. "I can't rely on Mr. Paxton's denials."

The
judge made the ruling in the lead-up to her verdict on more serious
charges, including aggravated and sexual assault, against Paxton
involving a man he shared a home with in Calgary.

The judge
earlier denied the defence a stay of proceedings. Paxton's lawyer had
argued that the case against his client should be thrown out because
evidence showed a police officer coaching a witness.

But Martin said that "almost all of the defence claims are not made out in the facts."

Chutta was one of the major witnesses supporting allegations that Paxton assaulted the roommate.

"I find Mr. Chutta to be a truthful and credible witness," Martin said.

Chutta
testified that he also lived with the accused and helped him and the
alleged victim set up their business. Chutta said Paxton would often fly
into a rage over very small things.

Chutta said he had no idea when he first moved in how violent Paxton could be.

Paxton,
who is 34, was charged in August 2010 — four months after a man he had
shared a place with in Calgary was dropped off near death at a Regina
hospital.

His trial began last Sept. 27 and moved at an
agonizingly slow pace. The Crown called 43 witnesses in the proceedings,
which took 4 1/2 months.

The 28-year-old alleged victim, whose
name is under a court-ordered publication ban, testified that he was
starved, humiliated and beaten — sometimes severely — on an almost daily
basis and forced to perform sexual favours for Paxton.

He
testified that he took the abuse because he didn't want to appear to be
"a sissy" and had dreams of making big money in Calgary through the
business he and Paxton started.

He said he suffered severe facial trauma and had all of his ribs broken in a beating with a two-by-four.

The defence argued that the alleged victim was not tied up or locked in his room and could have left at any time.

The
Crown brought in Kris Mohandie, a U.S.-based human captivity expert,
who told court that the man reacted to the almost daily beatings like an
abused pet or battered spouse would and couldn't flee the relationship.

The
judicial stay of proceedings requested by defence lawyer Jim Lutz was
one reason for the drawn-out affair. The application didn't come until
after final arguments by Lutz and prosecutor Joe Mercier.

Lutz
said in his application that his client hadn't received a fair trial
because there was evidence that showed police coaching a witness who was
called to testify against the accused.

The application resulted
in a fresh set of lawyers brought in to argue for and against the stay,
which, if granted, will allow Paxton to walk free.

Both Lutz and
Mercier found themselves in the unusual position of being called as
witnesses. The defence lawyer testified that two different spectators
approached him to report that they had seen a senior Calgary police
officer coaching a witness from the gallery and that a court clerk
reported seeing the same thing.

Lutz also testified that he had
asked that a key witness who had an outstanding warrant be arrested, but
the court's sheriff was told by the Crown not to make the arrest.