A trucker from the Laurentians admitted to having caused a trip off the road in 2019 during which his partner was fatally struck by the logs he was transporting.
Israel Proulx, 45, pleaded guilty Monday morning to a charge of criminal negligence causing the death of Karina Paquette.
Proulx was then employed by a log transport company. On the night of June 16 to 17, 2019, he went to La Tuque, in Mauricie, in the company of the 39-year-old victim.
The accused had falsified his logbook, frequently called logbookhe admits.
“There is a lot of pressure from employers for drivers not to respect the logbooksto force them to work,” specified the accused’s lawyer, Me Mathieu Laporte, at the Mont-Laurier courthouse.
The law required him to have seven hitches on his trailer. Proulx had only installed two.
Leaving the road
Early in the morning, a road accident occurred on a curve on Chemin de Parent, linking La Tuque to Mont-Laurier.
Ms. Paquette was then sleeping in the truck’s bunk.
“The logs will reach her head and she will die in the minutes that follow, in the arms of the first passers-by who arrive on the scene,” mentioned the Crown prosecutor, Me Jean-Michel Baril.
According to the Sûreté du Québec reconstructionist, “a human factor and speed” were involved in the accident.
“Mr. Proulx knew that there was a mechanical transmission problem on his vehicle, but he got behind the wheel anyway,” said Mr. Baril.
The accused’s lawyer, however, insisted that “the mechanical problem had been raised with the employer, who had taken no action.”
Israel Proulx, who has a history of theft, will return to court next October for sentencing representations.
Judge Nancy Mckenna announced that the expected sentence “will be custodial.”
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