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.
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.
Quebec provincial police officer Geneviève Gignac was the first witness, 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.
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
