ATHABASCA — More than four years after the brutal kidnapping and murder of Nature Duperron, a 25-year-old Bigstone Cree Nation woman, two of her four killers will soon receive sentences for their role in the horrific crime that left a local family devasted.
Aug. 28 marked the first day of a two-day sentencing hearing in Edmonton, during which time victim impact statements were read out in court. The final sentence for Duperron’s killers will be handed down Sept. 11 in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench.
Cheryl Uchytil, Duperron’s mother, expressed the pain and sorrow felt over the last four years in her victim impact statement, noting how learning at least two of the killers are also Indigenous worsened the tragedy.
“It’s like watching a genocide within our own nation,” Cheryl said.
Duperron’s step-father and sister also gave emotional impact statements, lamenting the difficulties of explaining the rift left in the family by the heinous crime to Duperron’s three surviving children.
“Her youngest son still cries for her, and there’s nothing I can do or say to take his pain away,” said Summer Uchytil, Duperron’s sister. “How do you explain to a child that he will never see his mommy again for the rest of his life?”
Buddy Underwood, who was 24 at the time at the murder in 2019, was found guilty of second-degree murder, forcible confinement, and kidnapping after a trial in October 2022. Co-convicted Tyra Muskego, a 25-year-old new mother from Onion Lake Cree Nation, Sask., was found guilty of manslaughter, robbery and forcible confinement.
In addition to the automatic life sentence handed down with Underwood’s second-degree murder conviction, the Crown is seeking 22 years with no eligibility for parole, while his defence is asking for parole eligibility after 15 years. For Muskego, the Crown is seeking a 15-year sentence, and her lawyer has asked for a reduction to five to nine years.
Both Underwood and Muskego’s lawyers requested Gladue reports — pre-sentencing documents that shed light on Indigenous’s offenders personal history — and court heard details of troubled lives leading up to Duperron’s murder. Underwood’s defence recounted an early life dealing with sexual abuse and violence, and as a teen partaking in methamphetamines with relatives.
Muskego’s lawyer read a statement written by the 25-year old, expressing regret for her role in the violent death of Duperron and citing her own addiction struggles at the time of the crime.
“Nothing I say will make it hurt any less or turn back time. I live every day with the guilt and shame from my wrongdoings,” Muskego’s statement read. “I take full responsibility for my actions for this nightmare.”
