MARTIN: Sex assault of 90-year-old woman in Calgary apartment defies comprehension​on February 13, 2025 at 12:00 pm

All crimes are bad and all criminal behaviour involves victims.

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Whether it’s a shoplifting at a 7-Eleven store which impacts both the store owner and consumers, who higher prices to offset lost profit, or the downtown shooting of a drug dealer which leaves a mother grieving the loss of a wayward son, crimes cause grief and require some form of punishment.

But while the above two examples would likely not cause much outrage among the general public, there are some crimes which defy human comprehension.

The parent who murders their own child or the embezzler who swindles the life savings out of retirees, some criminal acts are so reprehensible the strike at the very heart of a civilized society.

On Jan. 1, 2021, Duran Ross Buffalo committed such an act.

It took a Calgary jury merely an hour last Friday to convict Buffalo on charges of aggravated sexual assault and breaking into the residence of a city senior to commit that crime.

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The 12 jurors didn’t even hang around long enough for a free dinner before ruling the case presented by Crown prosecutor Matt Dalidowicz clearly showed Buffalo, 40, entered the apartment of a 90-year-old woman and hid in her storage room before emerging after she went to bed and violently raped her.

Shockingly, Buffalo’s crime may have gone unsolved, perhaps not even thoroughly investigated, if not for his own carelessness in his attack on the victim, who died a year ago and wasn’t able to see her assailant brought to justice.

Police involvement in the case began earlier that evening when officers responded to a complaint from the assisted living facility the victim lived in of an intruder gaining entrance to the highrise unlawfully.

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But when officers checked the hallways and stairwells they found no one. Little did they know the perpetrator had found the victim’s door unsecured as she would leave it open so staff could attend each evening without her having to laboriously get up to let them in.

After the rape the woman called 911, but her complaints weren’t taken seriously enough and she was taken to hospital for a urinary tract infection and discharged early the next morning without a so-called rape kit examination being done.

Even the woman’s own daughter questioned the likelihood of her mom being raped due to her advancing dementia which she feared may have triggered a hallucination.

Despite her doubting her mother had been raped, the Edmonton woman did have concerns for her well-being and raced down to Calgary to be with her.

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It was at that time her mother mentioned the T-shirt she had to toss from her bed that the intruder left behind.

Police were resummoned and a full investigation was conducted, including taking the victim to the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre where swabs were taken and injuries she suffered at the hands of Buffalo more thoroughly examined.

By that time bruising on her face and wrists had begun to form, painting a horrific picture of how she had been violently violated in her own home.

DNA testing on the T-shirt matched Buffalo’s genetic profile and the swabs returned a match for either him or a close male relative.

Video of the original intruder to the complex from earlier in the evening was reviewed and it was clear he was the perpetrator.

For Buffalo, who hardly engaged in his jury trial, for the most part sitting in the prisoner’s box, with his head down and hands clasped behind his neck, justice finally caught up with him last week.

The woman’s daughter was relieved with the result, but also relieved her mother was spared having to live through the horror all over again.

Dalidowicz has indicated he will seek a dangerous offender designation for Buffalo, something that may well be justified.

KMartin@postmedia.com

X: @KMartinCourts

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