Alberta appeal court upgrades conviction to 1st-degree murder in fentanyl injection death

A man already serving a life sentence for the death of a Bigstone Cree Nation woman has had his conviction upgraded to first-degree murder.

In a unanimous decision filed Thursday, a panel of Court of Appeal of Alberta judges replaced Buddy Ray Underwood's second-degree murder conviction for the death of Nature Duperron with a first-degree murder conviction, following an appeal by Alberta Crown prosecutors. 

Duperron, a 25-year-old mother of three from Athabasca, Alta., was robbed and kidnapped by a group of people in April 2019. After being forced into a truck in Edmonton, she was handcuffed, kicked and hit and left on the floor of the vehicle as she was driven hundreds of kilometres west of the city.

She was forcibly injected with fentanyl before being left to die outside of Hinton.

A medical examiner found that she died of fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity, and that while the blunt force injuries she suffered were not sufficient to cause death, hypothermia couldn't be ruled out as a contributing cause.

Though it wasn't Underwood who injected Duperron with fentanyl, the trial judge, Court of King's Bench Justice Robert Graesser, found Underwood was the "director of the events" and made the call about what the group ended up doing to Duperron.

In 2022, Graesser found Underwood guilty of kidnapping, robbery and second-degree murder. The Crown had argued Underwood should be found guilty of first-degree murder, but Graesser acquitted Underwood on that count, ruling that he wasn't satisfied that the legal test for planning required for a first-degree murder conviction had been met.

The Crown appealed, arguing that Duperron wouldn't have died if it weren't for Underwood's actions and that the judge was incorrect in finding that the murder was not planned.

In its decision, the appeal court agreed with both of the Crown's arguments.

"We have no difficulty concluding that, had the trial judge applied correct law to his findings of fact, he would have found Mr. Underwood's acts were a substantial and integral cause of Ms. Duperron's death," the appeal judges ruled.

They added that the judge's own findings show that there was evidence of planning and deliberation.

"Though the trial judge used the word 'purpose', what he described was in law both an intention and a plan to kill Ms. Duperron," the decision states.

"The group had ample opportunity to change course, to stop injuring Ms. Duperron, and to get her help. Instead, everything done was aimed at killing Ms. Duperron in a remote location."

Underwood cross-appealed, arguing that the second-degree murder conviction should be set aside and that he should get a new trial, but the appeal panel rejected his arguments. 

Underwood had been sentenced to life in prison with no chance to apply for parole for 17 years for his second-degree murder conviction. 

With that conviction now replaced by a first-degree murder conviction, an automatic life sentence and no opportunity to apply for parole for 25 years was imposed. 

Underwood's lawyer said Thursday he doesn't have instructions to provide comment on the decision. 

Tyra Muskego was tried alongside Underwood, and was convicted of manslaughter, kidnapping and robbery in 2022. She was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

Two other accused, Kala Bajusz and Grayson Eashappie, previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.