Saskatchewan Mountie killer seeks in court to keep bullet-riddled truck

SASKATOON – A man sentenced to life in jail for killing two Mounties in a chase involving his blue pickup truck went to court Monday to try to get the vehicle back.

Curtis Dagenais argued that his 1986 GMC 1500 – smashed, dented and pockmarked with bullet holes – is his and still holds value for its parts.

“It’s unreasonable (for the Crown to keep it),” Dagenais, 61, said as he appeared by video in the courtroom of Justice Daryl Labach.

It has been 17 years since a jury convicted Dagenais of first-degree murder for shooting constables Robin Cameron and Marc Bourdages in 2006. He was also convicted of attempted murder for wounding Const. Michelle Knopp. 

In July 2006, Dagenais was in the GMC truck when officers went to arrest him in Spiritwood, northwest of Saskatoon, after a report of a domestic dispute. He sped off and the resulting police chase on country roads ended with an RCMP vehicle ramming into the side of his truck. A shootout followed. 

Dagenais had testified the officers shot at him first, so he grabbed a rifle under his truck seat and blindly returned fire to save his own life. The Crown argued at trial that it was Dagenais who surprised the Mounties with gunfire and that he lied in court to get away with murder.

Court had previously heard Dagenais was flagged as a police hater.

Dagenais received three life sentences without eligibility of parole for 25 years. For the past 20 years, his truck has been stored at RCMP headquarters in Regina.

At Monday’s hearing, prosecutor Scott Bartlett told court the truck’s windows are broken and the doors dented. It’s also pockmarked with bullet holes, he added.

“I can’t imagine (Saskatchewan Government Insurance) would ever allow it to be registered. It could never pass an inspection,” Bartlett told court.  “It simply has no value.” 

Asked why the Crown wants the truck forfeited, Bartlett said in a later interview the vehicle has been stored long enough. He added he has no control over what would happen to the vehicle should it be surrendered. 

A section of the Criminal Code that deals with forfeiture says “offence-related property” can be disposed of. 

RCMP said in a statement it will continue to maintain possession of the truck until given direction by the courts to dispose of it. 

The Crown had originally sought to have the convicted killer’s truck forfeited in June 2021.

Bartlett told court the forfeiture case was tied up due to Dagenais seeking support from Innocence Canada, a non-profit group that helps exonerate people who believe they’re not guilty. 

Bartlett said he didn’t hear from Innocence Canada until this year, and that the group told him it would not be representing Dagenais. 

He said Dagenais was previously given an adjournment in June to sort out his case for Monday’s hearing.

“It hasn’t been accomplished,” he told court. “I’m looking for a reason for us to believe that if we adjourn it one more time, that something would be different.”

Dagenais told court he is trying to get a meeting with a lawyer. Labach adjourned the case to Oct. 19 to give Dagenais more time to find one, but said he won’t grant another extension.

“My patience,” he said, “is starting to wear a little thin.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2026.

– By Jeremy Simes in Regina