John Albert Buchanan was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Richard Sitar following a drug dispute on Sept. 11, 2017. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

drug fight

Man convicted of manslaughter over drug dispute at south Nanaimo apartment

Jan 12, 2021 | 5:05 PM

NANAIMO — A Nanaimo man was convicted after beating his drug dealer for smoking $80 worth of prepaid heroin and crystal meth.

John Albert Buchanan was convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter for the brutal beating death of Richard Sitar on Sept. 11, 2017.

Buchanan escaped a second degree murder conviction, which would have resulted in an automatic life imprisonment.

Justice Robin Baird’s decision on Tuesday, Jan. 12 followed a three week trial in the fall examining Buchanan’s link to the blunt force trauma death of Sitar.

“I’m satisfied that the particulars of this final engagement with Mr. Sitar comprised one torment too many for the accused,” Baird concluded. “It exceeded the limits of his self-control, he comprehensively lost his temper and committed a grizzly and horrible crime as a result.”

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He categorized Buchanan’s actions as a shade below the threshold of second degree murder, ruling the offender was provoked and that he didn’t go to Sitar’s Nicol St. unit with the intention of killing him.

Baird said the duo had a lopsided relationship based on drugs and stolen property. Evidence showed Sitar was an abusive, heavy-handed drug dealer and prolific thief, while Buchanan was the subservient, drug-addicted dependant of Sitar.

Surveillance video of Buchanan’s movements before and after the crime and a jailhouse confession were cited as key pieces of evidence in Baird’s ruling.

He outlined how Buchanan’s initial statement to police two days after the incident, contending he left Sitar’s unit at 5 p.m. the day of the murder, contradicted surveillance footage revealing him coming and going from the apartment later than he’d claimed and aligned with the time frame in which Sitar was killed.

Baird said Buchanan became agitated at the development, maintaining his denial and telling police they should instead focus on Sitar’s wife as the killer.

“The accused was the only other person in the apartment when Mr. Sitar was killed. He had what is often referred to as an exclusive opportunity,” justice Baird said.

Sitar’s wife and another man entered the unit to find a bloodied and unresponsive Sitar slumped on a couch at 7:05 p.m.

Surveillance video showed Buchanan leaving the unit 20 minutes earlier after stealing several items, including a gold watch that he gave to another man soon after.

Nearby outdoor surveillance cameras tracked Buchanan after he snuck out of the building through a side door. He was seen concealing what the Crown believed was the never-recovered murder weapon, possibly a bat or pipe.

A tiny stain on the front of the shirt Buchanan wore while in Sitar’s unit contained the victim’s DNA.

While in pre-trial custody in Victoria in October, 2019, a cellmate alerted authorities Buchanan had admitted to killing Sitar, claiming it was an accident and manslaughter.

The informant claimed Buchanan said he used a bat hung on Sitar’s wall, stole a watch, concealed the bat and burned evidence.

“The accused told (the informant) that he thought the victim was probably dead after the first blow, but he continued to swing anyways after that first swing to make sure,” Baird said. “He didn’t want him to come back and kill him.”

Baird said the cellmate did not benefit in any way by telling his probation officer what Buchanan told him.

The judge discounted contents of a letter sent by Buchanan to Nanaimo RCMP in February, 2020, stating two since-deceased men murdered Sitar by using a ladder to access his second floor unit.

“Why was this last version so long concealed? The answer in my view is clear: it is a recent and obvious fabrication,” Justice Baird emphasized.

No evidence supported Buchanan’s ladder theory during his trial, which was the main thrust of his defence alongside a lack of DNA evidence.

The 49-year-old did not testify and no witnesses were called by his lawyer.

He sat dejected and slumped forward in the prisoner’s box after Justice Baird determined he killed the 42-year-old Sitar. Buchanan then became visibly optimistic after learning he would be spared a murder conviction and no parole for at least 10 years.

Buchanan was placed back in custody after his bail was revoked.

The offender will sentenced at a later date after a pre-sentence report with psychiatric component is compiled.

His prior criminal record includes assault, weapons offences and property crimes.

Buchanan elected not to comment to NanaimoNewsNOW on Tuesday.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes