RIMOUSKI — The case against a Quebec man charged with killing three people with his truck in an eastern Quebec community is straightforward, prosecutor Jérôme Simard told jurors on Friday.
"There will be no big twists," he said in his opening statement in the trial of Steeve Gagnon, who is facing three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Gagnon, 40, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The prosecution is attempting to prove that on March 13, 2023, Gagnon drove his truck through the heart of Amqui, Que., along Highway 132, accelerated onto the sidewalk and mowed down a dozen people before turning himself in at a local provincial police station. The town is about 350 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.
Three men died: 65-year-old Gérald Charest, 73-year-old Jean Lafrenière and 41-year-old Simon-Guillaume Bourget. Nine other people were injured.
Simard told the jury that the Crown will present evidence of the accused's financial problems, and a video recording that Gagnon made two days before the collision with the pedestrians during which he stated his intention to strike people with his truck.
The trial is scheduled to last for up to eight weeks and the Crown intends to call approximately 50 witnesses.
Francine Rioux struggled to hold back her tears as she testified on Friday. Rioux and her partner were in a car behind Gagnon's pickup truck when he suddenly swerved onto the sidewalk, mowing down all the pedestrians in front of him.
"He swerved onto the sidewalk and accelerated. He didn't let up on the accelerator and kept going. I saw the baby fly back, the little boy, then the mother, then I saw the other man who went under the truck. I saw it all," she testified.
The couple called 911. Rioux said, within minutes, the same pickup truck was making its way back in the opposite direction.
"His window was down and we could see the driver very clearly, he was looking at what he had done," Rioux said.
Ken Moreau followed Rioux to the witness stand and said luck was on his side. He could hear noises behind as he stepped on the sidewalk.
"The only thing I saw was people flying through the air," Moreau said. "I saw the gentleman in the vehicle, I remember very clearly seeing him face to face, and after that, I have a kind of blackout."
To this day, Moreau told the court, he doesn't know how his body knew to move between a lamppost and a planter to avoid being hit. He tried to help the injured and saw the vehicle returning on the opposite side of the street and tried to chase it on foot.
Realizing he wouldn't catch up, he returned to the scene and sat down on the steps of a microbrewery where everything had happened and broke down in tears.
Another witness, David Morin, recounted arriving after the truck had passed, snapping a few photos that were entered into evidence. He told the jury that he witnessed helplessly the final moments of one of the victims, Lafrenière.
Quebec provincial police officer Geneviève Gignac was the first witness to take the stand, recounting how she had been called while off-duty to assist, first to supervise the towing of the accused's vehicle and then to help secure the crime scene.
Earlier Friday, Quebec Superior Justice Louis Dionne told jurors their responsibility was to hear all the evidence presented before them, not launch their own investigation. "You are not lawyers or investigators," Dionne reminded jurors, instructing them to adhere strictly to the evidence presented in court.
Fourteen jurors are hearing evidence, but only 12 will be chosen to deliberate.
The trial is being heard in Rimouski, Que., northeast of the provincial capital.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.
— By Pierre Saint-Arnaud in Montreal.
The Canadian Press
