P.A. Man Gets Seven Years For Killing Northerner

P.A. Man Gets Seven Years For Killing Northerner

Friday, February 18, 2005 at 14:56

 

 

A Prince Albert resident has been sentenced to seven years behind bars for beating a northern man to death with a baseball bat.

 

The sentence was handed down this morning in Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench.

 

49-year-old John Buesnel — who defended himself throughout the trial — expressed anger at the sentence, telling reporters he had been framed and hadn’t done anything wrong.

 

Police discovered the unconscious body of 44-year-old Leland Vincent Ballantyne in Buesnel’s house in the summer of 2003.

 

The former resident of Pelican Narrows had suffered severe trauma to the head, and died a day later in hospital.

 

Buesnel told the court he had only been defending himself, but was still found guilty of manslaughter.

 

The father of the victim, William Ballantyne, says he is unhappy with the sentence because Buesnel admitted he attacked his son while he was asleep.

 

Ballantyne also wishes the judge would have more strongly considered the victim impact statements given to the court by himself, his son’s wife and his brother.