Crown seeks 8 years in prison for man who rammed family in SUV off road, wielded chainsaw

A judge will sentence a 60-year-old man next month for ramming an SUV with children and pregnant women off the road at high speed, then approaching the victims with a chainsaw.

The incident happened last summer in eastern New Brunswick.

Michael Gordon Augustine of Elsipogtog First Nation was in Moncton provincial court Thursday for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty earlier this year to four charges of uttering death threats, dangerous driving causing harm and assault with a weapon.

Augustine pleaded guilty to those charges in May while set to stand trial on 37 charges, including seven of attempted murder. The other charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty.

On Thursday, Crown prosecutor Logan Landry read to Judge Ronald LeBlanc an agreed statement of facts as well as a victim impact statement from one of the people who was in the vehicle Augustine rammed.

"We all have fears of this monster being out on the street again," the woman wrote in her statement.

Landry said on the evening of July 18, 2022, Augustine was driving a GMC Sierra pickup truck with Alcina Denny, his ex-partner's 34-year-old daughter, on Route 116 near Big Cove Road.

A photo entered as an exhibit shows the area where Augustine rammed the SUV off the road last summer. (Moncton provincial court exhibit)

An argument — what it was about was not described in court  — ensued and Augustine began hitting Denny and threatening to kill her. Denny fled the truck and flagged down a passing Chevrolet Traverse SUV with a man, woman and four children inside.

A publication ban prohibits reporting the names of the children, and in order to protect their identities, CBC is also not reporting the names of the man and woman in the SUV.

Landry said the male Traverse driver was reluctant, but the female passenger said they couldn't drive by without offering assistance to the woman. Denny told them Augustine was going to kill her. They planned to drive Denny to a nearby store to get help.

An 11-year-old was asked to move to give Denny a seat and didn't have his seatbelt on when the truck driven by Augustine rammed the SUV on the passenger side.

Augustine rammed the SUV two more times, sending it "flying" off the road, Landry said. It rolled several times, ending up on its roof about 83 metres — or 272 feet — away from where it left the road.

Augustine was driving a GMC Sierra truck, which also crashed near the SUV. (Moncton provincial court exhibit)

Landry said a crash reconstructionist later determined the truck was travelling about 109-130 kilometres per hour while the SUV was going 78-96 kilometres per hour.

In the crash aftermath, a seven-year-old initially couldn't be found. The child had been wearing a seatbelt but had been ejected from her seat.

"Thankfully — or miraculously — there were no major injuries," Landry said. He said there was significant concern given that Denny and the female SUV passenger were both pregnant.

Landry said it wasn't long before the family saw Augustine nearby holding a chainsaw, removing its safety guard.

A photo entered as an exhibit during the sentencing hearing shows the chainsaw Augustine was holding after the crash. (Moncton provincial court exhibit)

The SUV driver told him to drop it, then pounced on Augustine, beating him to subdue him. Landry said Augustine told the man he had the chainsaw, which wasn't running, to try to help the people in the SUV.

Later in the hearing, the judge said the man was fully justified to defend his family.

The victim impact statement from the female passenger in the SUV said family members have been left with some lasting physical injuries like pain but also psychological impacts.

The woman wrote in her statement that trying to save a woman's life almost cost them their entire family, and that she feels guilty as a mother. She wrote that their children fear Augustine will send someone after them to hurt them.

Denny was also left traumatized, the judge was told. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, couldn't return to her community, and had trouble holding her son who was born healthy.

Malika Levesque, another Crown prosecutor, told the judge there were few comparable cases to look at when trying to determine a proper sentence. She said Augustine had used the truck as a weapon against the family and the woman.

"It could have been much worse," Levesque said.

Crown prosecutors said they are seeking an eight-year prison sentence, while defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux asked the judge for four to five years.

The Crown said with credit for time Augustine has already spent in custody, the overall sentence would be closer to 76 months, or just over six years.

Lemieux said Augustine wasn't taking issue with the facts Landry outlined.

A photo of the scene entered as an exhibit shows where the truck, to the middle left, and the SUV ended up. (Moncton provincial court exhibit)

The lawyer said Augustine accepts responsibly and has expressed remorse for his actions, describing the incident as "horrendous."

He said the man had a history of alcohol abuse. Levesque said that the court can't ignore Augustine's Indigenous background, but said it should be considered with other factors like his record of previous violence.

Lemieux repeated what Landry said about Augustine holding the chainsaw to help.

It was a point that the judge later indicated he was struggling to understand, wondering if it could have been meant to harm the victims.

"[It] doesn't mean there was any intent to go Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Lemieux said, adding Augustine accepts his conduct could have been misunderstood.

Among the original 37 Augustine faced was one of threatening conduct with the chainsaw, though that was dropped when he pleaded guilty to the other four charges.

At the end of the sentencing hearing, Augustine told the judge, "I'm sorry for everything."

The judge said he needed more time to consider an appropriate sentence and adjourned the case until Sept. 20.