Nikolas Ibey, 35, is on trial for first-degree murder in Ottawa’s Superior Court, accused of killing his new housemate, 22-year-old Savanna Pikuyak, who had just moved to Ottawa from Nunavut for college. According to the Crown, Ibey was frustrated after an eight-hour attempt to find an escort on the night of the killing. Allegedly, he took his anger out on Pikuyak, leaving her dead in her bedroom just four days after she moved in, having responded to a Facebook ad for a room.
Assistant Crown attorney Sonia Beauchamp told the 14-member jury that Ibey had spent the night trying to arrange encounters with 30 different escorts online, to no avail. After sending his father a confession via text the following morning, Ibey’s father and brother called 911. When police arrived, they found Pikuyak’s bloodied body in her room, evidence suggesting a violent struggle. Ibey, represented by defense lawyers Ewan Lyttle and Maggie McCann, has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree charge after the Crown rejected his initial plea of second-degree murder.
Pikuyak’s older sister, Geneva, testified emotionally as the Crown’s first witness, describing Savanna as outgoing and full of life. Geneva also shared that Savanna had struggled to find accommodation before finding Ibey’s rental ad. The trial is scheduled for five weeks, with Justice Robert Maranger reminding jurors to keep any biases in check, noting the history of systemic racism faced by Indigenous women in Canada
Source: Swifteradiocom
