WARNING: This story contains graphic details about an alleged sex crime.

Nikolas Ibey — on trial for first-degree murder in the death of an Inuk woman who had just moved to Ottawa from Nunavut to attend college in 2022 — had been drinking, taking drugs and being frustrated in his efforts to find an escort “for eight straight hours ” before he finally took what he wanted from his new housemate and left her for dead in her room, the Crown said in its opening statements to a 14-member jury on Wednesday.

The victim, Savanna Pikuyak, 22, had arrived in Ottawa and moved in with Ibey just four days earlier after she responded to an ad he posted on Facebook Marketplace for a room for rent, according to Assistant Crown Attorney Sonia Beauchamp. .

Ibey, now 35, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Ottawa Superior Court at the start of his trial this week after his guilty plea to the lesser offense of second-degree murder was rejected by the Crown. He is represented by defense lawyers Ewan Lyttle and Maggie McCann.

The trial is scheduled to run for five weeks.

“frustrated”, “lied”, “cheated”

The Crown alleges Ibey began talking about his plans for the Saturday night of the murder two days earlier when he asked a friend if he and his girlfriend would be interested in a forty.

The friend told Ibey he thought it would be fun, but when Ibey couldn’t find his friend Saturday night, he moved his search for sex online, Beauchamp told the jury.

In all, Ibey was on the phone communicating with 30 sex workers on the night of the murder – sometimes carrying on multiple conversations at once.

He was “frustrated at being lied to” and “tricked into sending money in the form of deposits, only for no one to show up,” Beauchamp claimed. The only sex worker who showed up stayed after talking to Ibey for about 15 to 20 minutes.

His search continued for “eight straight hours,” from 7 p.m. on Sept. 10 until 3:08 a.m. on Sept. 11, when all communications stopped, Beauchamp said.

Text confession

At 9 a.m. on Sept. 11, Ibey texted his father and confessed to killing his roommate earlier that night, Beauchamp told the jury.

Even before this text, Ibey had looked online for the length of sentences for murder and first degree murder.

Ibey’s father and brother were the 911 callers and are expected to testify for the prosecution, Beauchamp said.

Police found blood in Pikuyak’s doorway and a bloody piece of wood on the floor. Pikuyak was found naked on her bed, wearing a sweater and bleeding from multiple cuts on her head.

She also suffered defensive injuries, Beauchamp said, and DNA evidence is part of the case.

He struggled to find accommodation

Savanna Pikuyak’s older sister, Geneva Pikuyak, was the Crown’s first witness on Wednesday.

“We were best friends. I would say we were the closest brothers in probably all of Sanirajak,” Geneva Pikuyak testified under cross-examination by Crown Assistant Michael Purcell. Sanirajak is their hometown in Nunavut.

She recalled being sad that her sister was moving to Ottawa because they were finally living together without their parents. But she was happy for her too.

Before Savanna Pikuyak moved from Sanirajak to Ottawa to attend pre-nursing school, she had trouble finding a place to live, Geneva Pikuyak testified. She hadn’t gotten into the Algonquin College dorm, her smartphone’s Internet connection wasn’t working, and when she could connect, it was hard to find a place to rent near the college, Geneva Pikuyak said.

On Sept. 2, Savanna Pikuyak answered an ad she found on Facebook to rent a room in a three-bedroom house on Woodvale Green in Ottawa, the Crown told the jury.

Ibey’s brother had bought the house the previous month. He offered Ibey the basement room there and put him in charge of finding other tenants and collecting the rent, the Crown said.

Under questioning by Lyttle, Geneva Pikuyak testified that arrangements for her sister’s living situation came together at the last minute, that she did not know her sister was on medication, and that when the sisters spoke after the move, Savanna Pikuyak said he was feeling a little overwhelmed.

Geneva Pikuyak also testified that her sister was extroverted, extroverted, a high achiever and loved to joke a lot.

Put aside any bias, the judge tells the jury

Before a brief summary of the Crown’s evidence and Geneva Pikuyak’s testimony, Judge Robert Maranger told the jury to keep an open mind, set aside any conscious or unconscious biases they may have when hearing the case and avoid stereotyping.

“Indigenous people in Canada, particularly Indigenous women and girls, have been subjected to a long history of colonization and systemic racism, the effects of which continue to be felt,” he said.

Maranger added that there are unfounded myths and stereotypes about victims of sexual assault as well. He cautioned jurors not to make assumptions about sexual assault, what kinds of people may or may not be victims of sexual assault, or what kinds of people may or may not commit sexual assaults.

The process continues.