Man's injuries 'worse than a horror movie'

By Katie DeRosa and Melissa Martin, Victoria Times Colonist and Winnipeg Free Press May 17, 2010

VICTORIA – A Victoria mother is trying to fathom what could have happened to her son after his tongue and bottom lip were cut out, his face smashed and his ribs broken.

In fact, Renee LaFortune said it looks like her son was tortured.

"It's something worse than a horror movie. You can't look at him."

Police are also trying to piece together the story behind Dustin LaFortune, a burly 26-year-old man from Winnipeg, who was dumped at a Regina hospital by a man who falsely claimed to be his cousin on April 16. He had wasted away to a mere 90 pounds and medical officials told his mother that he might not survive.

Nurses told Renee that some of the wounds were old and some so fresh that emergency-room physicians didn't see them until the bruises emerged after he'd been dropped off. "They said this occurred over a long, long period of time."

Worst of all, he showed evidence of possible brain damage, struggling to follow conversations and being unable to speak. The extent of his brain injuries, if any, are not yet known.

Renee said it likely will be months before her once hard-working and reliable son is released from the hospital.

"Everything that he was is gone, he has to start over," she said.

Living in Calgary while working for a moving company, Dustin was last heard from in February.

Renee said the alarm bells went off when phone calls and e-mails to Dustin from friends and family members went unanswered. The phone numbers for the Calgary company he worked for were disconnected

In 2008, Dustin had moved from Winnipeg to Calgary to work for a moving company owned by an acquaintance, who is also from Winnipeg; the two reportedly became roommates. For a time, all seemed well on the outside, although Dustin's ex-girlfriend said she witnessed disturbing and controlling behaviour from the roommate.

"(Dustin) was telling me how he was only allowed to eat one meal a day (by the roommate)," said Lindsay Airhart, who visited the pair in Calgary.

By September 2009, Dustin had already lost considerable weight when he was taken to a Calgary hospital with broken ribs. He said that a freezer had fallen onto him, but the family now doubts that story.

In late February of this year, Renee filed a missing person's report with the Calgary police.

About a week later, Airhart said, Dustin called her father. "He sounded like death," she added.

On April 14, Dustin's roommate texted Airhart to say that he was fine but couldn't talk because he was on a farm in Leduc, Alta., without a phone.

The roommate mentioned the pair's money problems and said he was "working on" getting Dustin to call his family.

Just two days later, Dustin was dumped at the Regina hospital, wasted and injured beyond recognition.

Dustin was finally able to muster the strength to make a statement to police Friday morning, his mother said.

She said he told police that his former roommate had caused his injuries during assaults in Calgary and Saskatchewan.

Regina police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich has confirmed that the police are investigating the case as an aggravated assault.

Dustin's mother said she won't be satisfied until police arrest the person responsible.

"I didn't even know someone was capable of doing that."

From: http://www.montrealgazette.com/injuries+worse+than+horror+movie/3039316/story.html