Paxton's alleged victim appeared brain damaged, officer says

Dustin Paxton's alleged torture victim appeared to have brain damage, a Regina police officer who met the man in 2010 testified in a Calgary courtroom on Wednesday.

Const. Kevin Lang testified that he responded to a call about a homeless person, who turned out to be Paxton's alleged victim.The man cannot be named.

Paxton, 31, is on trial for forcible confinement, aggravated assault and sexual assault of his 27-year-old roommate and business partner between December 2008 and April 2010 in Calgary and Regina.

The police officer said the man's face was droopy and he drooled constantly.

Dressed in dirty clothes, the man told the police officer he was trying to hitchhike to Winnipeg, his home town.

The officer said he asked the man four times who he was with, but he did not answer.

The encounter ended with the man telling the officer he did not want any help, Lang told the court.

A few weeks later, in April 2010, theallegedvictimwas dropped off at a Regina hospital weighing only 87 pounds, and suffering from several broken bones and mutilated lips and tongue.

Paxton's Regina landlord, Harvey Cruikshank, 66, also testified on Wednesday via closed-circuit television.

He told the court it was the accused who rented the apartment the two men shared. However, Paxton signed the lease in the other man's name, he said.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sheilah Martin adjourned testimony until Friday.