Witness pulls out hearing aids in ‘act of defiance,’ Crown says

On Thursday, the Crown concluded its case in Peter Toonoo’s manslaughter trial with what prosecutor Leo Lane called “inconsistent” testimony from the accused’s mother.

Iliya Toonoo was one of the witnesses on the fourth day of her 40-year-old son’s trial for the death of Jimmy Kownirk in 2024.

There were “material inconsistencies between her evidence today and her preliminary inquiry,” Lane said.

On June 5, 2024, Kownirk allegedly suffered injuries in his downtown Iqaluit apartment during a fight with Peter Toonoo, Siuqjju Toonoo, who was the victim’s girlfriend, testified Monday.

Peter Toonoo was arrested the next day, after Kownirk was found with what police called “severe injuries,” taken to the Iqaluit hospital and medevaced to Ottawa. Kownirk died several weeks later, in July.

Police considered Iliya Toonoo an initial suspect but they couldn’t reach her for questioning. She was the last person who was in the apartment on the night of the incident to testify in the trial.

Although Lane scheduled for her to testify remotely from Kinngait’s RCMP detachment Monday, she didn’t show up. Justice Mark Mossey, issued a warrant for her to be brought to the detachment to testify Thursday.

As Kinngait RCMP made the arrest, Iliya Toonoo, who is in her early 60s, removed her hearing aids as an “apparent act of defiance,” Lane said.

However, once she began her testimony, she put her hearing aids in and spoke through an interpreter.

In a response to a question from Lane, she said she left Kownirk’s apartment on the night of June 5 before he was hospitalized.

She then told the court she didn’t know which night Lane was talking about. Later, she claimed she didn’t remember if there was an argument or if a fight broke out.

“My hearing aids ran out of battery, so I don’t know,” she said.

Her testimony Thursday was different from what she told the court in a preliminary hearing in June 2025, Lane said.

The court also heard from Const. Valeria Dinca who was one of the officers who arrested Peter Toonoo.

The fingers on his left hand were “swollen,” “misshapen” and “sensitive,” she testified.

However, when Peter Toonoo’s lawyer Alan Regel invited her to look at his clients fingers during Thursday proceeding, she testified they looked similar to the night of the arrest.

While Lane ended his case for the Crown, Regel said he won’t present any more evidence.

Friday is scheduled to be the last day of the trial, with lawyers set to make their final submissions.