Convicted Canadian killer loses appeal

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TORONTO, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- A man convicted of killing a Canadian truck driver and stealing a container full of frozen chicken has lost his bid for a new trial.

Paul Leonard Cyr, 55, of Montreal is serving a life term for the killing of Donald Woods, 35, of Brockville, Ontario. The Court of Appeal for Ontario, the highest provincial court, refused Monday to set aside his conviction, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

Justice David Watt, who wrote the court's opinion, described the crime in terms that might have come from a mystery novel.

"A jury decided that Paul Cyr was not only a chicken thief, but a killer," he said. "A chicken thief because he hijacked a tractor-trailer unit carrying about 14,000 kilograms (more than 30,000 pounds) 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."

Cyr was paroled in 2001 after 14 years in prison for killing a man during a bungled robbery in Toronto. When Woods disappeared after gassing up at a truck stop in 2006, Cyr was driving a truck for JC Drivers, a company owned by his brother, Jacques, which had brokered the deal for the load of frozen chickens.

Prosecutors had no forensic evidence after Woods' body was found in his truck. They produced evidence he told his wife he had an appointment to meet someone at JC to discuss working for the company and that Cyr had offered the truckload of chicken to two wholesalers in Toronto.