‘Had to do the right thing’: father called 911 after finding body in trunk of son’s car

The father of a man accused of killing 20-year-old Mackaylah Gerard-Roussin and burying her on a remote ATV trail told a court Monday he “had to do the right thing” and call police after discovering a body in the trunk of his son’s car.

“I know he did something bad,” Alexandro Ronaldo testified. “I’m not going to cover up what he did.”

Josh Benoit, 24, is on trial charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 25, 2022, killing.

Ronaldo told court he was called to his ex-wife’s Steinbach home the afternoon of Aug. 27 to help Benoit fix a flat tire on his Mazda 3.

Ronaldo said he went to the garage and finished installing a new tire when Benoit’s mother called out to him.

“I went inside and said: ‘What happened?’ She said: ‘Check the trunk.’”

Ronaldo said he opened the trunk and saw a tarp covering a large plastic bin.

“I lift up the tarp… and I see a hand,” he said.

After telling his ex-wife what he saw, Ronaldo went outside.

“I can’t believe what happened,” he said. “I came back inside (and) told Josh I have to do the right thing, I have to call police.”

Ronaldo said his son fled in the car while he was on the phone to 911.

Ronaldo testified his son was not welcome in his house at the time and described him as “a danger” and “not there.” Under cross examination, he agreed with defence lawyer Jeremy Kostiuk’s assertion that Benoit’s mental state had been deteriorating in the months leading up to the killing and that he was having “real problems with paranoia.”

“I lift up the tarp… and I see a hand.”

In an opening address Monday, prosecutor Danielle Simard alleged Benoit actively plotted Gerard-Roussin’s killing and pointed to security video recorded at a Winnipeg Canadian Tire store days earlier showing him purchasing “items he needed to dispose of (her) body.”

“It’s a terrible tragedy and an unthinkable crime, but make no mistake, this case is about preparation — preparations made by Josh Benoit to murder Mackaylah Gerard-Roussin and preparations made by him to cover it up,” Simard said.

“But for a miraculous convergence of circumstance, there is a genuine possibility his efforts might have been successful as Gerard-Roussin may never have been found,” she said.

Gerard-Roussin was last seen leaving her Winnipeg apartment the evening of Aug. 25 to meet Benoit, Simard alleged.

Three days later, police recovered her body from a plastic tub buried on an ATV trail near Woodridge. She had been stabbed to death.

Simard alleged Benoit had been digging Gerard-Roussin’s grave Aug. 25 when, just one hour later, he messaged her asking if she “wants to hang.”

On Tuesday, RCMP Cpl. Richard Graham testified he was at the Sprague detachment the evening of Aug. 25 when he answered a call around 8 p.m. alerting him to a Mazda 3 parked on Provincial Road 58 East near Highway 210.

The caller said he was inspecting the vehicle when his attention was drawn to a nearby ATV trail where he saw a man digging a hole, Graham testified.

Graham drove to the scene to find the vehicle gone and no one around.

“I did notice a hole that had been dug,” he said. “I inspected the hole and saw what appeared to be a Rubbermaid container… I reached down and realized it was only a lid sitting there.”

Graham lifted the lid, revealing a five-foot deep hole.

“But for a miraculous convergence of circumstance, there is a genuine possibility his efforts might have been successful as Gerard-Roussin may never have been found.”

Graham returned to the scene the following evening and found it undisturbed, but for the lid, which was now standing upright in the hole.

Graham said he was contacted Aug. 27 by a Steinbach RCMP officer who told him they were investigating a possible homicide and asked him to return to the scene. Graham returned just before 5 p.m. and found the hole now filled with earth. Graham secured the area with police tape and waited for other officers to arrive.

Benoit was arrested that same day following a police chase during which he allegedly used gasoline to set fire to his vehicle in an attempt to “obliterate” evidence, Simard said in her opening address.

Former classmates previously told the Free Press that Gerard-Roussin and Benoit attended Tec Voc High School together and became friends.

Gerard-Roussin was employed as a youth worker at Rossbrook House, an inner-city drop-in centre, before she was hired by a TD Canada Trust branch in Winnipeg.

Gerard-Roussin had told relatives she wanted to continue to help kids and become a child psychologist.

The trial is set for three weeks.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca