Curtis Dagenais appeared in a Saskatoon court for a hearing on Monday, marking two decades since he killed two Saskatchewan RCMP officers and wounded another. Dagenais received three life sentences without parole for 25 years after being found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of RCMP constables Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron, and one count of attempted murder for injuring Const. Michelle Knopp. The tragic incident occurred when the officers collided their police vehicle with Dagenais’s blue GMC truck during a pursuit on rural roads on July 6, 2006.
The focus of the current court proceeding is Dagenais’s blue truck, with the Crown seeking its forfeiture and subsequent destruction. Despite serving his sentences at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, Dagenais is set to make a virtual appearance. The prosecutor, Scott Bartlett, highlighted that the truck’s forfeiture had been delayed, explaining that it had been overlooked.
In the past, Bartlett initiated a forfeiture application in 2021, which Dagenais contested, awaiting a response from Innocence Canada, a non-profit organization advocating for wrongfully convicted individuals. However, as the organization did not take on his case, Bartlett reintroduced the truck forfeiture application this year, which Dagenais continues to oppose. His refusal stems from his belief in his innocence, hoping that the bullet holes in the truck can serve as evidence.
During a previous hearing in June, Justice Daryl Labach granted Dagenais time to secure legal representation, emphasizing the need to address the application without further delays. Dagenais had previously appealed his convictions to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, which upheld the verdict in 2012.