A man accused of killing an Ontario truck driver, so that he could steal the driver’s load of chicken, has been denied a new trial.
On June 23, 2006, the body of 35-year-old Donald Woods was found in his emptied out truck. He suffered a fatal gunshot to the head.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, Paul Leonard Cyr, 55, shot Woods in the head, stole his truck and load of frozen chicken, then sold the load and abandoned the truck.
Authorities were able to tie Cyr to the crime after they tracked down the stolen shipment of chicken.
In 2009, a Canadian court found Cyr guilty first-degree murder. Cyr was sentenced to life in prison.
Cyr claimed he did not murder Woods and appealed his case.
“Cyr’s trial heard that Woods was driving a load of frozen chicken from Drummondville, Que. to Toronto on June 21, 2006. The contract for the delivery had been brokered by JC Drivers, a trucking firm owned by Cyr’s brother, Jacques,” the Ottawa Citizen reported.
On that same day, Cyr was hauling a load of frozen food in the opposite direction. He called Jaques to tell him he was going to stop in Belleville and refuel. He arrived at the 10 Acre Truck Stop at approximately 8:15 p.m.
A fews hours later, Woods pulled into the same truck stop. The last time Woods was seen alive was when he refueled his truck.
Cyr’s truck remained parked at the truck stop until evening the next day. Cyr claims his truck remained parked because it needed repairs.
At Cyr’s trial, two food distributors testified that they had received a call from a man named “Paul” offering to sell several thousands of pounds of chicken at a “deeply discounted price.”
Mark Pang of Tai Wah Trade purchased the chicken for $40,000.
At 8:00 a.m., on June 22, 2006, Pang met with the man delivering the stolen load of chicken. However, Pang failed to identify Cyr as the man who delivered the chicken in a police lineup of suspects.
At the trial, a truck driver testified that Cyr hitched a ride back to his truck.
At 11:30 that night, Wood’s wife, Nicole, knocked on Cyr’s truck door, inquiring about her husband’s whereabouts.
It took jurors only one day to find Cyr guilty of first-degree murder.
This was the second murder case Cyr was found guilty of. In 1989, Cyr was found guilty of second-degree murder in the stabbing case of a Toronto man. Cyr remained in prison until 2001, when he was paroled.
Justice David Watt denied Cyr’s request for an appeal, saying “A jury decided that Paul Cyr was not only a chicken thief, but a killer…A chicken thief because he hijacked a tractor-trailer unit carrying about 14,000 kilograms of frozen chickens, then sold the chickens to some wholesalers eager for a bargain. A killer because he shot the truck driver in the back of the head and left him dead in the cab of his truck.”