Accused Nunavut killer hid clothes, burned shoes, pondered taking his own life

Lawyers will make final arguments in Jeffrey Salomonie’s first degree murder trial Feb. 9 at the Nunavut Court of Justice. Justice Neil Sharkey will likely make a verdict decision some time after that. (FILE PHOTO)

A Cape Dorset man on trial for the slaying of Iqaluit resident Daisy Curley in 2009 burned his shoes, stashed clothing and contemplated suicide in the days after the murder, according to interrogation videos shown Feb. 3 by Crown lawyers at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

Jeffrey Salomonie, now 48, is being tried for the first degree murder of Curley after the Crown rejected his guilty plea to manslaughter.

“I had to get a new pair [of shoes]…because I used those shoes when I was at Daisy’s,” Salomonie said in an RCMP interrogation video from June 7, 2011.

“So you got rid of them on purpose?” the officer in the video asked.

“Yes,” Salomonie replied.

Curley was beaten to death with a hockey stick in her home and died May 20, 2009 after a night of drinking with Salomonie at Iqaluit’s Storehouse Bar and Grill.

And DNA evidence found by forensic investigators on Curley’s body indicates the pair had sexual intercourse — but it’s unclear when that took place.

Salomonie has maintained in his testimony during the trial that his heavy drinking that night left him with no memory of the attack.

The Crown said during Salomonie’s cross-examination that his previous testimony is unreliable, citing the 2011 RCMP video to highlight inconsistencies in Salomonie’s recounting of events in the trial.

“That night you were wearing a hoodie. You had it on when you left Daisy’s house,” Crown lawyer Douglas Garson said to Salomonie.

“If I understand your evidence yesterday, you said you were kind of wobbling when you went back to the hotel. But even though you were wobbly, you thought to put that [hoodie] in the garbage can?”

“I don’t remember,” replied Salomonie.

“You didn’t tell the RCMP on June 7, 2011 that you got rid of that [hoodie]? …Is it really that you can’t remember, or that you don’t want to talk about what happened?” Garson said.

Prosecutors asked Salomonie about statements he made to the RCMP when he was first questioned about Curley’s death in June 2009.

“You said to them you went over to her house, had a drink, and that when you woke up in the morning Daisy was fine. And you said goodbye to her and you left?” Garson asked.

“Yes,” replied Salomonie.

“That wasn’t true, correct?” Garson pushed.

“I guess so,” Salomonie said.

When Salomonie heard the RCMP wanted to question him in 2009, he went out on the land from Cape Dorset with a rifle and attempted to kill himself, Garson told the court.

Garson asked Salomonie to confirm he was feeling suicidal at the time.

“I can’t agree with that. I don’t really remember feeling suicidal,” Salomonie replied.

The crown played a segment from Salomonie’s interrogation in 2011, when he told the RCMP he had suicidal thoughts.

“What have you thought since then [Curley’s death]?” asked the officer in the video.

“Suicide, suicide for a while. That was the first day of trying to take my life. I was going to blow my head if I could,” was Salomonie’s answer in 2011.

Garson asked Salomonie if he remembered anything else from the night Curley was killed.

“I don’t remember any of it. I don’t remember getting mad at her. And that the truth,” Salomonie insisted to the Crown.

“When you saw Curley, all swollen when you woke up, did you try to help her in any way?” said Garson.

“I remember going towards her, I saw her face, her face was bruised,” Salomonie said.

“But you didn’t help her in any way? All you did was wipe the blood off your shoes, right?” Garson said.

“Yes,” Salomonie said.

The Crown ended its cross-examination by reminding the court that Salomonie has previous convictions, dating back to the 1980s, including sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm, obstruction, and failure to comply with police orders.

Lawyers will make their final arguments to Justice Neil Sharkey, who is presiding over the trial alone, Feb. 9.

Sharkey’s decision is expected the following week, with sentencing scheduled for Feb. 26.