The driver of the moving truck involved in a double fatal accident told an off-duty police officer that a wind storm caused the accident
The driver of a moving truck involved in a fatal crash west of Calgary said a sudden gust blew his vehicle into oncoming traffic, a court heard Tuesday.
Calgary Police Sgt. Martin Slater said he was off duty and heading to British Columbia for a family vacation on the morning of Aug. 11, 2021, when he came across the carnage on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Morley.
“I encountered … a catastrophic three-vehicle collision,” Slater told prosecutor Vince Pingitor.
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“There was twisted metal, the remains of a car,” Slater said, referring to a Penske-rented truck involved in the accident.
“I came out to see if I could help.”
Slater said there were two large trucks and a passenger car involved in the collision and he approached two men lying on the ground near the Penske vehicle, which was being used by the moving company Two Small Men With Big Hearts.
One of the men was shot in the leg, so the officer asked what happened.
“He said a gust of wind made him cross the median.”
While Slater was unable to identify the suspected driver, Christopher Busha, in court, he said he was an older man, approximately in his mid-50s.
The court heard on Monday that Bucha was driving the moving truck with his younger colleague, Eldon Maitwaiasheng, in the passenger seat.
Busha, 52, of New Westminster, British Columbia, faces eight charges, including two of criminal negligence and dangerous driving causing death in the crash that claimed the lives of an elderly Invermere couple.
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John, 78, and Glenys Fox, 75, were killed in the crash when an eastbound Penske truck crossed the grassy area in their path.
Although Busha commented that a wind storm caused the accident, it was not a particularly windy day, Slater said.
“I’m not a meteorologist or an expert on wind gusts… but when I was walking towards the vehicles I didn’t feel any wind. It wasn’t a windy day,” he told Pingitor.
It’s the prosecutor’s theory that Busha, who had been on the road for more than 24 hours at the time of the crash, fell asleep at the wheel before crossing into oncoming traffic.
Slater said he didn’t see the extensive damage to Fox’s car until he moved around the Penske truck.
“I was walking around to the side and that’s when I was met with carnage,” he said.
“There were two halves of bodies… and the bodies were only from the middle of the torso up.”
The trial continues Wednesday.
