A Princeton man is facing up to nine years in jail after pleading guilty to viciously stabbing his ex-wife and injuring his daughter outside of the Princeton Dairy Queen.
James Buhler pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and unlawfully causing bodily harm in Penticton Supreme Court Tuesday.
Buhler stabbed his ex-wife, Lydia Buhler, 11 times with a 10-inch knife before their daughter, Amanda Buhler, grabbed the knife away in what Crown counsel called an “amazingly heroic” action saving her mother’s life outside the Princeton Dairy Queen on Feb. 26, 2014.
The husband and wife separated in September 2013, and Lydia moved to the Lower Mainland. However, the two still shared a mailbox in Princeton, which James used as leverage to lure his ex-wife back to town in February 2014. He changed the locks on the mailbox, forcing Lydia to meet him in the Dairy Queen parking lot to retrieve her mail, where he attempted to rekindle the relationship to no avail.
Lydia attempted to retreat when James became hostile after she refused to move back to town, but she slipped on the icy ground.
“The accused knelt down to where Lydia was lying on the ground and continued to cut her with the knife,” said Crown counsel John Swanson.
Amanda Buhler was sitting in the driver’s seat of her mother’s car when she saw the altercation take place. She ran out of the car, pulled her father off of her mother, grabbed the blade of the knife with her bare hand and pulled it out of James’ grip.
Police arrived as Amanda helped her mother into the Dairy Queen where staff attempted to tend to her injuries.
“I’m grateful that Amanda was with me that day, otherwise I’d be dead,” Lydia told the court while reading her victim impact statement.
“In my submission your honour, it’s fair to characterize Amanda Buhler’s actions in this case as amazingly heroic,” Swanson said. “She was clearly prepared to put her own safety in severe jeopardy in order to protect her mother.”
On-duty Princeton RCMP officer Anthony Pankratz was, luckily, nearby after Dairy Queen staff called 911 and when he arrived on scene saw James attempting to grab the knife and slit his own throat. The officer drew his service pistol and ordered him to stop and James complied. He has been in custody since that day.
Amanda and Lydia Buhler both read their victim impact statements to the court Tuesday describing having nightmares, fear, and their long roads to recovery from the incident.
“My life has been hell. I was a caring compassionate loving woman before this. Now I am a shell of what I used to be,” Lydia said.
She said that she lives in fear of James’ release.
Crown counsel submitted a sentencing range of six to eight years. Swanson suggested the sentence be in the higher range noting that there were multiple aggravating factors including “an element of entrapment” and planning using the shared mailbox to lure his ex-wife to meet with him. Defence counsel Tim Russell submitted a 16-month to six year sentencing range, and outlined James’ history of mental health issues including post traumatic stress disorder related to a car accident in the 1990s, anxiety and depression relating to his failed marriage leading up to the incident.
James had written a suicide note prior to the incident where he said goodbye to his family, outlined feelings of betrayal and noted his desire to be buried with the family dog.
A sentencing hearing takes place Wednesday in Penticton Supreme Court.