Man who killed 2 Mounties has appeal dismissed

Saskatchewan's highest court has dismissed the appeal of Curtis Dagenais, the man convicted of murdering two RCMP officers in 2006.

In Regina on Thursday, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal heard arguments from both the defence and the Crown. It then dismissed the appeal.

Dagenais, who's serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of RCMP constables Robin Cameron and Marc Bourdages, had asked the three-judge panel to overturn the jury's 2009 verdict.

At the trial, court heard how in July, 2006, Cameron and Bourdages chased Dagenais down a bush road after a domestic dispute in the town of Spiritwood, Sask.

The chase ended when Bourdages and Cameron broadsided Dagenais's truck with their SUV.

Cameron and Bourdages were both shot in the head at close range with a high-powered rifle.

Three years later, a jury convicted Dagenais of two counts of first-degree murder, and one of attempted murder of a third Mountie, Michelle Knopp, who survived the encounter.

Dagenais argues the trial judge didn't properly explain to the jury how he'd been provoked into shooting the officers.

He also says the evidence doesn't support the guilty verdict and he disagrees with the life sentence for the attempted murder of Knopp.

The Court of Appeal sometimes adjourns its decisions for weeks or even months, but in this case, there was a short recess while the three judges decided.

When they returned, they said they didn't accept Dagenais's arguments.