Four people charged in the 2019 manslaughter of a 25-year-old mother of three appeared before a judge on Monday, with two claiming responsibility for her death. Kala Bajusz and Grayson Eashappie pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in an Edmonton courtroom for killing Nature Duperron. Tyra Muskego and Buddy Underwood have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, robbery and kidnapping. Duperron was kidnapped in Edmonton, robbed, beaten repeatedly in a vehicle, violently injected with fentanyl and left for dead in the woods near Hinton on April 7, 2019, according to a statement of facts agreed to by Bajusz and Eashappie. “At times Duperon would scream and cry, asking ‘What have I done? What did I do; I don’t deserve this.’ Other times she passed out. Her attackers used meth throughout the trip,” the document states. An autopsy concluded that Duperron died of fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity, and court documents also noted blunt force trauma injuries, including to her head. Duperron’s body was recovered from the woods off Highway 16 near Hinton on April 23, 2019, after Bret Desjarlais led RCMP to her handcuffed body. He was the driver of the vehicle and the six people in it, and was later granted immunity to cooperate with police and prosecutors. Several of those involved knew each other from drug dealing, the agreed statement of facts said. The trial will continue on Tuesday. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Alison MacKinnon
