For hours a drunken Anthony Oscar beat up his wife while the two were on board a small fishing boat in an isolated area on the West Coast.
And then, when she was bloodied and bruised, he may have even tried to bury her alive in the beach at Queen’s Cove in Nootka Sound.
On Monday, in Campbell River provincial court, Oscar pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.
It was his fourth conviction for assaulting his wife Charlene Oscar.
The 37-year-old, who was arrested and held in custody since July 16, was given one more day in jail after Judge Brian Saunderson accepted a joint submission from Crown prosecutor Tim Morgan and defence lawyer Angie Penhall.
Judge Saunderson found the low-end sentence “particularly distasteful,” but pointed out the BC Court of Appeal has stressed that joint submissions are “just short of binding.”
The judge then set his sights on Oscar who appeared by video from jail cells in Victoria.
“Has it ever occurred to you that you’re a bully?” the judge asked.
Oscar simply replied “yes” and later added that he’s been taking counselling and respectful relationship courses while in custody.
But the judge wasn’t impressed, noting that Oscar was previously convicted of assaulting his wife in 2009, 2010, 2012 and again last summer.
“The fact is you keep beating up your wife,” said Judge Saunderson, who added that convictions were only for the times Oscar was caught by police.
Morgan told the court that Charlene Oscar has always been reluctant to assist police investigations into her abuse.
And the real truth of what happened on July 14, 2013, may never be known.
According to Morgan, Charlene Oscar is homeless in Campbell River and is battling alcohol problems.
“She wants nothing to do with (her husband),” said Morgan.
On that summer day Anthony Oscar spent hours punching and kicking his wife while they were both intoxicated.
The assault was finally reported to Nootka Sound RCMP who, upon their arrival, found Oscar passed out on the boat.
His wife was taken to Gold River to be treated. Both eyes were blackened and later shut, and she had significant bruising.
“Fairly serious injuries,” noted Morgan.
She also told police that her husband had tried to bury her on the beach.
Photographs show sand in her hair, but without her full co-operation, or witnesses, the allegation was almost impossible to prove in court, said Morgan.
According to defence lawyer Penhall, Oscar has a Grade 12 education and a two-year diploma in marine biology.
The couple have been married for six years and have five children, but not with each other.
“He’s sorry for what happened. They both have drinking problems,” she told the court.
Judge Saunderson said Oscar’s behaviour is “absolutely despicable,” but he had little choice but to accept the joint submission of one more day in jail.
Oscar is now on an 18-month probation order and has a lifetime ban on owning or possessing any firearms.