Curtis Sagmoen leaves the Vernon court house Sept. 9, 2019.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

The complainant in the case again Curtis Sagmoen thought she would make $1,000 for her services that evening, but instead spent a terrifying night outdoors scared for her life.

The details were heard in court today, Dec. 17, as the complainant, whose name cannot be published under a court-imposed ban, took to the stand to testify.

The court heard that she charged $200 to $300 an hour for her "companion services" and had estimated she would make $1,000 for her visit with Sagmoen. She gave detailed descriptions of the incident in August 2017. She said she drove her car down the long driveway near Sagmoen's family's Salmon River Road property and on arriving at a closed gate, got out of her car.

"I heard this rustling in the bushes," she said. "I figured something wasn't right."

The complainant said she went back to get in her car and a man appeared. His was face covered and he was pointing a gun. She got into the car and the man approached the open car window.

"I pushed the gun away and said 'no,'" she told the court.

She started the car and attempted to drive away but reversed into a ditch. At this point she fled on foot, losing both shoes on the way, and ran barefoot down Salmon River Road.

"How did you feel?" Crown lawyer Juan O'Quinn asked.

"Scared... I was totally panicking... I was afraid he was going to shoot me," she said. "I'm forever grateful I'm not dead."

She was the final witness called in the high-profile trial, which is now in its third week.

Following the incident, Sagmoen was charged with covering his face with intent to commit an offence, intentionally discharging a firearm while being reckless to the life or safety of another person, threatening to cause death or bodily harm while using a firearm, uttering threats and possession of methamphetamine. In September 2019, at the beginning of the trial, he pleaded not guilty to five of the charges.

A month after Sagmoen was arrested in September 2017, the remains of Traci Genereaux's body was found on his parents' property where he lived. No charges have been laid in the case, although court documents say Sagmoen is the subject of two other investigations, one of which is a murder investigation.

The complainant said she ran down Salmon River Road and hid in the bushes when she saw the headlights of a vehicle approaching. She eventually made it on foot to Highway 97 and tried to hitchhike, although got scared and made her way to a nearby house and hid in a barn. She ultimately spent the night outside next to the house until the homeowner saw her in the morning and called the police. She was taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital and gave a statement to police.

The court heard she had placed an ad online and received a text message from Sagmoen. When shown a bandana seized by police from Sagmoen she said it looked like the one she'd seen that night.

Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Lisa Helps, the complainant said it was "hard to say 100 per cent" the bandana shown to her by police was the one worn by her assailant.

The defence lawyer also disputed other aspects of her story.

"The gun wasn't pointed at you?" Helps suggested.

The complainant disagreed.

Helps pointed to a statement she'd made to police after the event which said the gun was slanted.

"It's fair to say you can't really remember," Helps asked.

"Definitely," the complainant replied.

The court heard how it was dark and the complainant could not identify her assailant. Contrary to statements given by police during the trial, the complainant said her assailant did not say anything during the incident. She is the final witness to testify in the case that is scheduled to end tomorrow, Dec. 18.

Throughout the proceedings, the defence launched several voir dires — a sort of trial within a trial — and during each, Helps argued aspects of the arrest and search warrants broke her client's Charter Rights. The defence lost each voir dire.

For more stories on Curtis Sagmoen go here.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2019