Steeve Gagnon has been found guilty of first-degree murder after running down and killing three people with his pickup truck in Amqui, Que., in March 2023.
The 12 jurors, who began their deliberations behind closed doors on Friday morning, delivered their verdict at the courthouse in Rimouski, Que., on Saturday evening.
Gagnon faced three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder using a motor vehicle. He was found guilty on all five charges.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Louis Dionne immediately sentenced Gagnon to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years on the murder charges and 10 years for each of the attempted murder charges, to be served concurrently.
Gérald Charest, 65, Jean Lafrenière, 73, and 41-year-old Simon-Guillaume Bourget were killed after being struck by Gagnon’s vehicle.
It was an emotional scene when families and community members exited the courtroom after the verdict. Some were tearful, while others seemed relieved.
Amqui Mayor Sylvie Blanchette told Radio-Canada that people can now turn the page.
“It doesn’t erase anything,” she said in French, “Gérald, Jean and Simon-Guillaume will not be coming back, but at least for the families, it’s like a balm on a wound.”
“The verdict that they were waiting for is the one that came out,” she said of the victims’ loved ones.
Gagnon admitted he was driving the vehicle that struck and killed three people and seriously injured three others, but during his jury trial, the defence argued it was an accident.
His lawyer, Hugo Caissy, said Gagnon was driving when he dropped something on the floor of his vehicle, reached down to pick it up, and then lost control of the vehicle and struck the pedestrians.
The Crown, however, had argued that Gagnon’s actions were premeditated and intentional.
The prosecutor pointed to a series of videos Gagnon recorded just two days before the crash, where he described running down children in a schoolyard with his truck.
On March 13, 2023, the day of the crash, Gagnon stopped at a schoolyard, but there were no students there because it was a pedagogical day.
Six minutes later, the first pedestrian was hit.
In order to find Gagnon guilty of first-degree murder, jurors had to conclude that he intentionally ran down those people, and that he planned the crime in advance.
“We always believed that that it was first-murder and we were confident in our evidence,” Crown prosecutor Simon Blanchette said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the defence has 30 days to appeal the verdict. Caissy wouldn’t comment on whether or not it’s a path Gagnon will pursue.
