Curtis Dagenais, who was convicted of murdering two Saskatchewan RCMP officers and injuring another 20 years ago, is set to appear in court in Saskatoon over a dispute related to his truck. The Crown is seeking to have Dagenais’s 1986 blue GMC 1500 forfeited and destroyed, currently stored at RCMP headquarters in Regina, while Dagenais is contesting this move.
The tragic incident occurred on July 6, 2006, when Dagenais, evading arrest by three RCMP officers in Spiritwood, engaged in a pursuit that ended with him fatally shooting Constables Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron and injuring Constable Michelle Knopp. Subsequently, Dagenais was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in 2009, receiving three life sentences without parole for 25 years.
The matter of the truck’s forfeiture resurfaced recently, with the Crown prosecutor, Scott Bartlett, acknowledging a delay in the application process. Dagenais, maintaining his innocence, expressed his opposition to the truck’s destruction, citing the potential evidential value of the bullet holes present in it. Despite Dagenais’s efforts to seek assistance from Innocence Canada, a non-profit organization advocating for wrongfully convicted individuals, the court proceedings continued.
In a recent hearing in June before Justice Daryl Labach, Dagenais, representing himself, reiterated his desire to preserve the truck for examination. However, Labach noted that Innocence Canada had withdrawn from representing Dagenais, prompting the judge to grant another adjournment to allow Dagenais time to secure legal representation. The forfeiture hearing is now scheduled for August 31.