SASKATOON – A 25-year-old man has been sentenced to two years in custody for a high-speed collision that killed one woman and left another paralyzed.
Wylie Gunnar Vermette was sentenced late Friday afternoon in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench. The judge accepted the joint sentencing submission from the Crown and defence that was presented in April.
A trial was previously scheduled to start on Jan. 19, but on Jan. 21, Vermette instead entered guilty pleas to dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
The charges stem from a two-vehicle collision that occurred on June 11, 2024, at approximately 6:13 p.m. at the intersection of Quebec Avenue and 39th Street East in Saskatoon.
The two rear occupants of the SUV weren’t wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision. Natalie Gardipy, the 22-year-old woman sitting in the driver’s side rear seat, sustained critical injuries and was pronounced dead at Royal University Hospital. Brandi Keenatch, the 26-year-old woman in the passenger’s side rear seat, suffered several fractured ribs and multi-level spinal injuries with fractures to her spine, leaving her paralyzed.
The driver, a 23-year-old woman, had a fractured left wrist. The front passenger, a 36-year-old woman, sustained other injuries.
According to an agreed statement of facts, police who arrived on scene identified Vermette as the driver of a Dodge Ram truck. He appeared to be sober, with good speech, clear eyes and good balance. But the truck was unregistered and had licence plates that belonged to a different vehicle registered to Vermette’s father.
Witnesses on scene described the truck as “accelerating like crazy with large exhaust coming from the hood area with plenty of black smoke.” The truck had been travelling southbound on Quebec Avenue and collided with a Cadillac SUV that had made an appropriate stop on 39th Street East before turning left to go northbound.
The collision was caught on a witness’s dashcam and on three exterior security cameras at a building located on the corner of the intersection. The video showed other people walking on the sidewalk at the time, including pedestrians with a stroller. The weather was sunny and the pavement was dry.
An SGI safety officer’s inspection of the truck found that it didn’t meet minimum standards. The truck had three distinct vehicle identification numbers (VIN), suggesting the truck was assembled from parts of multiple trucks. The truck was also “chipped,” which electronically changed the output of the vehicle and gave it the ability to accelerate faster, according to the safety officer. The tinted front side windows exceeded allowable measurements, there was no muffler, and exhaust was diverted through a straight pipe fed through a hole in the hood. Both rear brake shoes were contaminated with brake fluid, making them inoperable, and the right front control arm was strapped to the frame rail with a ratchet strap.
The SGI safety officer said the SUV met all minimum standards under the regulations.
A collision reconstructionist determined Vermette was travelling at 128 km/h when he hit the brakes and collided with the SUV at 103 km/h. Since the rear brakes were inoperable, the truck required an additional 37.85 metres to stop compared with a fully functional vehicle.
ljoy@sasktoday.ca
