Victoria man receives four and a half year sentence for stabbing roommate

A Victoria man will spend four and a half years in jail after courts ruled he stabbed a man who had been housing him and his girlfriend rent-free.

Three years ago, Ronald Oster let his friend Christopher Parker and Parker’s girlfriend stay in his room in a Victoria housing facility for vulnerable people, court documents state.

In 2020, when Oster got concerned about the status of his housing, he asked Parker and his girlfriend to leave. Court documents state the couple were reluctant and tensions were high due to an outstanding drug debt between Parker and Oster.

Shortly after asking them to leave, Oster tells the court he was stabbed in the back of the neck by Parker near the entrance of his apartment.

On Dec. 8, in Victoria, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jan Brongers convicted Parker for aggravated assault.

The injury Oster suffered left him with a permanent disability that includes loss of motor function and loss of sensation on one side of his body. Oster tells the court his injury has affected his life greatly and most recently, prevented him from visiting his father in Eastern Ontario before he passed away suddenly.

Parker, who is now 40, has an extensive criminal record dating back to when he was 23. In total, Parker has 42 prior convictions.

In his victim impact statement, Oster says he was left wondering why his friend, who wasn’t paying any rent, lashed out at him, calling Parker’s actions “unprovoked and selfish.”