Roommate torturer Dustin Paxton loses bid to appeal indeterminate sentence

Roommate torturer and dangerous offender Dustin Paxton must continue to serve an indeterminate prison sentence, the Alberta Court of Appeal has ruled.

Paxton was convicted of aggravated and sexual assault in 2012 after he dropped his former business partner and roommate at a Regina hospital. The man, who weighed just 87 pounds, was also suffering from broken bones and a mutilated face.

The province's top court rejected Paxton's sentence appeal on Tuesday morning. In 2016, the same court also denied Paxton's attempt to have his convictions overturned.

After serving seven years of his sentence, Paxton could apply for parole but would have to demonstrate he is no longer a danger to the community. 

• Dustin Paxton a dangerous offender, Calgary judge rules

Paxton and his victim moved to Calgary from Winnipeg in 2008 and were living and working together. 

The emaciated victim — who at one point had weighed up to 250 pounds — had been starved and badly beaten over an 18-month period.

The man, who can't be named because he is the victim of sexual assault, was disfigured from daily beatings and suffers from permanent brain injuries.

At his dangerous offender hearing, court heard Paxton has anti-social personality disorder with narcissistic and psychopathic traits. 

He has 46 prior convictions including crimes of violence. The judge heard evidence he was a high risk to violently re-offend and posed a significant risk to the community. 

In 2013, then-Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sheilah Martin — who has since been elevated to the Supreme Court of Canada — ruled Dustin Paxton a dangerous offender and sentenced him to an indefinite prison term. 

Paxton created an atmosphere in which his victim "was required to provide total obedience, through physical and psychological control of this vulnerable person" noted the court of appeal in 2016 when it rejected the offender's bid to have his convictions overturned.

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