Judge to decide if Curtis Sagmoen pointed gun toward sex worker and shot out her car tire

The case against North Okanagan resident Curtis Sagmoen hangs on circumstantial evidence, a B.C. Supreme Court in Vernon heard on the final day of his trial.

Sagmoen is accused of wearing a mask, pointing a shotgun toward a sex worker and shooting out the front tire of her car late at night in August 2017 on a country lane south of Salmon Arm, B.C.

The sex worker, who was not named in court, was the Crown's main witness at trial.

The court heard how the she arrived at the location for a "two-to-three hour play date" and was instructed by a customer to drive down the lane.

• Curtis Sagmoen sentenced to time served for assaulting sex worker
• Curtis Sagmoen gets absolute discharge in 1st of multiple criminal trials
• Curtis Sagmoen denies threatening sex workers in emotional RCMP interview after 2017 arrest

The text conversation with the woman was found by police investigators on Sagmoen's cellphone. 

"This has all the hallmarks of an ambush," said Crown lawyer Simone McCallum during her final arguments on Thursday.

The sex worker told the court she barely escaped with her life. She said the gunman pointed the firearm through the driver's side window of her car, but she brushed it away and tried to drive off.

The woman said she crashed the car and it became stuck, so she fled down the road on foot and eventually spent the night in a hayloft on a farm.

Police found the front driver side tire shot out with a .410 gauge shotgun slug inside the tire.

During a search of Sagmoen's truck, police found shotgun shells. They discovered two spent shell casings in a search of his parent's property but they did not locate a shotgun, the court heard.

Arranging meetings with escorts

A police officer questioned Sagmoen about contacting escorts during an interrogation.

Sagmoen told the officer he arranged dates with sex workers and got sexual gratification from communicating with them online. But he said he didn't meet up with them, as he didn't have the money to pay for their services.

​​​​​"I never threatened anybody and I haven't fired a firearm," he told the officer.

McCallum told the court there is enough circumstantial evidence to conclude that Sagmoen was the gunman.

The lawyer argued Sagmoen called the worker out to the location and received a message that she had arrived.

"And by some wild coincidence another person appears with a gun and threatens her? That is a scenario that is so improbable, especially when we consider the location. It is not a heavily trafficked road."

'No direct tie between Mr. Sagmoen and the assailant'

Defence lawyer Lisa Jean Helps told the court it had been established Sagmoen was the person messaging the woman, but argued there was no evidence to support that he was also the gunman.

"There is no direct tie between Mr. Sagmoen and the assailant," she said in an interview with CBC News. "There is no direct tie between Mr. Sagmoen and the assailant. There is no tie within the description. There is no tie within the actions taken and there is no tie with the firearm which was never found."

The trial is of particular interest because of another police investigation involving the farm Sagmoen was living at.

Two years ago, the RCMP discovered the human remains of a missing Vernon teen on the property. However, Sagmoen has not been named as a suspect in her death.

The judge is expected to deliver a verdict on Friday.