The last words spoken by two RCMP officers before they were shot to death by Curt Dagenais cannot be broadcast, out of consideration for the victims' families, a Saskatoon judge has ruled.

The CBC had sought permission to air audio entered as evidence in the Dagenais trial, which concluded last Friday with three life sentences for first-degree murder and attempted murder.

The tape, about 28 minutes long, recorded police transmissions made during a high-speed pursuit of Dagenais on July 7, 2006.

It begins with constables Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron reporting their progress as they pursued Dagenais over dusty, rural roads. The chase also involved Const. Michelle Knopp in a second RCMP vehicle.

At the end of the encounter, all three officers had been shot.

Bourdages and Cameron died of their injuries. Knopp survived but was left deeply troubled by the incident.

Privacy rights cited

Justice Gerald Allbright, in a written decision released Tuesday, said playing the audiotapes would violate the privacy rights of the deceased officers' families.

Allbright pointed out that when the tapes were played at the trial, the courtroom was filled and many family members of the officers were present to listen.

"The impact upon those family members was immediate and palpable, and their emotional reaction was intense," Allbright said in his decision.

The judge noted that although Dagenais, through his lawyer, did not object to the CBC broadcasting the audio, the families of the victims did not want the audiotapes aired.

"Their desire is that the last audible words spoken by their loved ones not enter in the public domain for unrestricted broadcast," Allbright wrote.

The judge attached a copy of a transcript of the audiotapes to his written judgment.

It shows the last words of Bourdages were, "He did ram us."

Cameron's final words, according to the transcript, were, "We're still mobile and we're still heading west on that dirt trail."

Moments later, the surviving officer reported she had been shot and her partners were also in trouble. The tape ends with Knopp's anguished cries for help.

In seeking permission to broadcast the audio, the CBC argued that court exhibits are part of the public record and had been played in an open court already.

CBC says transcript lacks tone

In his decision, Allbright noted that CBC advanced the position that "it is not possible for a transcript of the audio recording to convey the tone of the officers' voices during the pursuit."

In his analysis, however, Allbright said the media's right to access had to be measured against the concerns of family members.

Allbright said he was convinced that replaying the tapes would revictimize the families and "hearing the actual audiotape serves to advance little, if any, the ambit of the media's laudable objectives."

Allbright specifically prohibited the broadcast of the tapes "through any broadcast medium, be it that of radio, television or the internet."