The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in Regina has upheld the 2009 murder convictions of Curt Dagenais.
The appellate court threw out Dagenais' appeal of his three life sentences for the first-degree murders of RCMP constables Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron and the attempted murder of RCMP constable Michelle Knopp.
The killings took place in a shootout on a dirt road near Spiritwood in 2006. Dagenais was tried in Queen's Bench Court in Saskatoon in 2009. Following the unanimous jury verdict, he was sentenced by Queen's Bench judge Gerald Allbright to life in prison on all counts.
Dagenais has been serving his sentences in the federal penitentiary in Prince Albert.
Dagenais appealed his conviction to the provincial Court of Appeal, who heard arguments Thursday morning in Regina.
As is normally the case in appeals, the defence had to convince the appeals court that trial judge Allbright made errors in law in giving his instructions to the jury.
However, Dagenais' appeal was rejected in an unusually fast decision.
The Court of Appeal's registrar office confirmed to the News-Optimist the Dagenais appeal was dismissed by the three appeals court justices who heard the case orally from the bench shortly before noon Thursday.
The fast judgment means Dagenais remains behind bars in Prince Albert penitentiary serving life sentences. His earliest date for parole is July 18, 2031.
