Phillipe Rivard Gagnon pleaded guilty earlier this week in a Haileybury court to attempted murder in a case that shocked residents in November 2024. Gagnon was 18 when he attacked his 16-year-old former girlfriend with a sword on Nov. 3 that year after she got off a transit bus in Cobalt, Ont., leaving her with devastating injuries. First, he hit her with a vehicle, then attacked her with the sword. Kaylie Smith’s left hand was amputated, her right hand was partially amputated and she had a skull fracture and a large cut to the back of her head. Gagnon was arrested in the nearby community of Haileybury in Temiskaming Shores shortly after the assault. He pleaded guilty Aug. 12 to attempted murder, contrary to Section 239(1)(b) of the Criminal Code, a court official confirmed to CTV News Northern Ontario on Aug. 14. The matter will return to assignment court on Sept. 16. The case sparked outrage in the community, with protests taking place outside the court when Gagnon made his first appearance on Nov. 12, 2024. It later emerged that he had been sentenced to house arrest five days before the attack on Smith. She underwent emergency brain surgery after the attack. A GoFundMe to help with medical expenses and Smith’s long-term recovery has raised more than $112,000.
