Man convicted of second-degree murder in Buffalo Narrows beating death

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A man who claimed he was defending himself from an attack in the northern Saskatchewan community of Buffalo Narrows has been found guilty of second-degree murder.

After a judge-alone trial at Battleford Court of King’s Bench, Justice John Morrall concluded that Robert Joseph Young viciously beat 42-year-old Jason Chartier to death between Dec. 19 and Dec. 20, 2018.

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A forensic pathologist testified that Chartier had 22 different fractures, cuts and scrapes on his head, neck, torso and legs, and that he died from a combination of severe head trauma and blood loss.

RCMP said they responded to a call about an injured, unconscious man in a shed behind a home. Chartier’s death was initially declared “suspicious.”

Young was charged two years later, in 2021.

At trial, Young, now 71, testified that he lived in a shack behind his mother’s house. He said he helped raise Chartier and knew him well.

On the night of the offence, Young said he returned home around 10 p.m. after a night of socializing with several people, including Chartier, who he described as being prone to “violent fits of rage” when he drank alcohol. He said Chartier was being aggressive at the gathering earlier that night.

He said he heard Chartier at his door and let him inside. Chartier suddenly attacked him with an eight- to 10-pound weightlifting bar “with sufficient force to kill, crush my skull like,” Young told court.

He testified that he defended himself by hitting Chartier once or twice with a pipe wrench. He insisted that he intended to immobilize him but not kill him.

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Young said there was no blood and he believed Chartier had “passed out” on his couch when he covered him with a blanket. He said another man came over the next morning and called police after checking Chartier’s pulse.

Young’s lawyer, Laura Mischuk, argued that provocation, intoxication and self-defence were all elements in what happened.

Crown prosecutor Anthony Gerein argued that Young’s testimony wasn’t credible, pointing out the absence of a metal bar at the scene, that attending officers noted blood on Chartier’s body, and that Young had no injuries despite claiming he was attacked.

“(The Crown) argue(s) that the only rational inference one can draw from this evidence is that Mr. Young brutally attacked Mr. Chartier in a situation where neither the defence of self-defence nor provocation would be applicable,” Morrall summarized in his Jan. 24 decision.

He agreed with the Crown, finding that Young caused a “minimum” of six blows to Chartier’s body, based on his injuries, and therefore caused his death.

“I find it clear that an unarmed attack against Mr. Young by an individual that he was already wary of would not deprive an ordinary person of the power of self-control and lead him to administer, at the very least, six heavy blows to Mr. Chartier,” he wrote, ruling out the provocation defence.

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He said there was no evidence that Young’s intoxication level prevented him from forming the intent required for murder, and found Young’s self-defence claims neither credible nor reliable.

“Mr. Young’s lack of injuries and the brutality of Mr. Chartier’s injuries, along with my review of the various factors, lead to the inescapable conclusion that Mr. Young decided to inflict harm on Mr. Chartier well beyond the allowable parameters set by the Criminal Code self-defence provisions,” Morrall concluded.

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