Saskatoon jury finds Robert Major guilty on all counts in highway crash trial

A jury has found Robert Major, who was on trial for a deadly 2016 highway crash that killed three people, including two of his sons, guilty of dangerous driving and criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm.

Major, 35, was accused of three counts of dangerous driving causing death, three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, three counts of criminal negligence causing death and three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

The courtroom gallery grew quiet as the 12-count verdict was read out, each line punctuated by the foreperson's refrain: "Guilty." 

Among the family members watching from the gallery was a young son of Major's who survived the crash at the centre of the week-and-a-half-long trial. 

Major will be sentenced Friday morning. Lawyers on both sides declined comment until that process wraps up. 

Dangerous driving causing death comes with a maximum prison term of 14 years, while criminal negligence causing death could mean life imprisonment for Major.  

The jury — seven men and five women — deliberated for nearly seven hours, including a meal break and a half hour taken up asking a question of Justice Mona Dovell. 

What the jury heard

The charges stemmed from a deadly highway collision involving Major and members of his family. 

In the morning darkness of Feb. 22, 2016, Major was about eight kilometres west of Langham, Sask., driving his pickup truck north on gravel Grid Road 3083 toward Highway 16.

He had six passengers with him: his three sons and a nephew; his girlfriend, Kimberly Oliverio; and his employee Scott Eckel. None were wearing seatbelts.

After driving through the Highway 16 intersection at a recorded speed of 137 kilometres an hour — more than 50 kilometres over the speed limit — Major crashed into a semi hauling nine cars and weighing about 36,000 kilograms.

The collision propelled the semi more than 80 metres into a ditch. The battered front of Major's truck was embedded into the semi's first trailer.

Oliverio and two of Major's sons died in the crash. Both of his nephew's legs were broken and Eckel suffered brain damage.

Missing stop sign a key point

Major's jury trial at Saskatoon's Court of Queen's Bench began on Jan. 14.

Jurors heard a lot of conflicting testimony throughout the proceedings.

Major testified that it was foggy that morning, while several Crown witnesses said it was clear. A surviving passenger, Major's 14-year-old nephew, testified Major was on the phone during the drive. Major denied the claim.

A stop sign missing from the highway intersection where the crash happened the crash figured prominently in the trial.

Major's attorneys argued that had the stop sign been there, Major would have stopped and the collision would have never happened.

The Crown argued during the trial that Major's actions —his speeding, his not buckling in the children and his phone use — led to the crash.