Witness to crash that killed Derek Bossuyt is upset the accused skipped court

Darren McLeod sat in a small courtroom on the fourth floor of the Law Courts on October 1, 2014, steeling himself for the testimony he was about to deliver about the evening of July 22, 2013.  

That's the night a semi driven by Randolf Enns crashed and killed 21-year-old Derek Bossuyt.

Enns is charged with dangerous driving causing death and resisting arrest in Bossuyt's death.

McLeod sat and waited as the court's public address system paged Randolf Enns. Enns never showed and McLeod never testified. And Bossuyt's family never got the answers they need to heal from the tragedy.

"He's running from it, he's hiding from it," said McLeod, who could not hide his disgust. "You're a piece of garbage really to run from it. Accept your mistake."

The Canada-wide warrant for Enns still stands, and there is no evidence authorities are any closer to bringing him to justice.

It was not until CBC News talked to Randolf Enns' brother that his location was confirmed.  Enns is living in Paraguay, and has been for months according to his brother.

• Randolf Enns, fugitive wanted in Winnipegger's death, is in Paraguay, CBC News confirms

Bossuyt's mother's grief is compounded by the fact there are so many unanswered questions that were supposed to be answered in court.

"We need some sort of understanding of what happened," said Karen Goodale, "We deserve that much.  We deserve to see some sort of a trial and explanation. We need to be able to put that to rest because it's not getting any easier."  

Trucker tried to warn others

McLeod has seen his share of crashes in the 20 years he's spent as a trucker on the road. It's a sad but routine occurrence for long-haul truck drivers. But what McLeod saw on the Trans-Canada that warm summer night was terribly out of the ordinary. A white semi barreling down the road — and fast.

"There was no sign that he was slowing down. And he was just moving at a high rate of speed,"  McLeod said. "He almost clipped my mirrors as he went by." 

 Mcleod acted fast. He leaned on the horn to warn a motorcyclist to stay put as Enns ran the red.

"I just laid on it, it was just as a gut reaction to say don't go. Please don't go." The motorcyclist was ok but the white truck showed no signs of slowing down, according to McLeod.  

"I'm going 'No, he's going way too fast. He's going to blow that set of lights,'" McLeod recalled.  He then lost sight of Enns' truck. RCMP confirm Enns blew through two red lights and that he was driving erratically.

"I could see dust on the south side of the road ... as I get up to the scene, I see 'Oh my God, he's hit somebody. He's hit another truck.' And his truck was down in the ditch and the wheels were still spinning. The black truck was kind of beside it but just totally obliterated. Nothing left of it, really." said McLeod

As McLeod pulled over, he noticed a man in the middle of the highway. It was Enns.

"You're going to get killed here. You got to come off the road,'" McLeod said to Enns, who ignored his pleas. "He keeps trying to run  back on the road, and we say 'No, you got to stay off the road, it's not safe out there.'"

A bystander took charge of keeping Enns off the road and McLeod went to Bossuyt's Sierra.

"I put my fingers on his neck and noticed that there was no signs of life. I said there was no way somebody could have lived through that, because there was nothing left of the front end of the truck and there was no way we could have got him out. It was all crushed in around him." said McLeod.

Enns' erratic behaviour continued as McLeod waited for police to arrive . Mcleod describes Enns as agitated, confused and in "a sort of daze."

McLeod said when the RCMP got there, Enns ran toward the officer. He obeyed the officer's command to stop and stand down. But Enns got agitated again.

"As they're at the back of the car, [Enns] starts fighting with both of [the officers] and they just kind of threw him on the back of the hood and they had him in the back of the car in very short order."

McLeod is angry Enns has evaded the justice system for more than a year. "You need to accept responsibility," said McLeod. "I'd love nothing more than that for the family, for closure for them. For closure for even the witnesses that saw it."

RCMP said the investigation remains active and they are working with local and international authorities on this file.

"Our thoughts, of course, are very much with the family in these circumstances," said assistant deputy minister Mike Mahon, of Manitoba Justice.

He would not say if Manitoba has made that request to the federal government to get Enns extradited back to Canada or tried in Paraguay.

Justice Canada sticks to its position that it "cannot confirm or deny the existence of such a request."