Details of a lengthy criminal history have emerged as the man arrested in a dramatic standoff in Sturgeon Landing awaits his next court appearance.
Jonas Budd appeared in court in La Ronge on Monday, his second time before a judge since being arrested on murder and abduction charges on February 19.
He was remanded until April 27 in La Ronge, at which time he will appear by video link from the correctional centre where he remains in custody.
Budd has not entered a plea or indicated whether he will deny, or accept responsibility for, the serious charges against him.
This is not the first time Budd has found himself on the wrong side of the law.
According to years-old parole documents detailed by the StarPhoenix, Budd was sentenced to 26 and a half months in prison for a series of crimes in 2007 and 2008.
Among other things, the documents say Budd made threats to the RCMP “to kill as many as possible” and then commit suicide.
A previous standoff with police ended when Budd, in possession of a gun while driving a vehicle, got out of the vehicle and shot himself in the chest, according to the documents.
The StarPhoenix reviewed other allegations against Budd dating as far back as 1990, including:
• Stabbing two men with a knife.
• Punching a 10-year-old girl in the stomach and punching and spitting in the face of a girl or woman.
• Threatening his ex-girlfriend and later threatening to kill her sisters and her family.
• Beating up his sister and chasing her friend.
• Narrowly missing adults and children when shooting two arrows through the plastic-sheeted window of a house.
• Shooting at the walls of a house with a .22 rifle while people were inside.
• Calling 911 and telling the dispatcher, “This one’s for you” and firing a gun, then saying, “The next one’s for me” and hanging up.
“At your hearing, you seemed to show little insight into your violence and seemed to blame others for your offending,” the parole board wrote in 2009 when denying Budd’s request for full parole.
Latest arrest
By the time of his latest arrest on February 19, Budd had spent up to 20 hours holed up inside a Sturgeon Landing home. Police took him into custody without incident.
Budd is accused of abducting Kayla Natomagan, 17, from a home in Lac La Ronge, a northeastern Saskatchewan reserve, shortly after 3 am on February 18.
He is also accused of shooting to death Dustin Bird, 17, who was inside the home. Media reports identified Bird as Natomagan’s boyfriend.
When he left Lac La Ronge, Budd was believed to be driving a 2001 pick-up truck. His next known location was somewhere near Cranberry Portage, a 450-km drive from Lac La Ronge.
Shortly before noon on February 18, Mounties located Natomagan “safe and sound,” but they believed Budd had fled on foot into the bush in the area of Cranberry Portage.
It is not clear how close Jonas was to Cranberry Portage or Sturgeon Landing, 70 km to the southwest, when he entered the bush.
In addition to first-degree murder and kidnapping, Budd faces charges of pointing a weapon, possessing a dangerous weapon, possessing a firearm while prohibited, breaking and entering, and uttering threats.
Though Budd had familial connections to Sturgeon Landing, he was reportedly living in Thompson at the time of his arrest.
