Facing retrial on triple-murder charges, Nunavut man cuts a deal

Chris Bishop enters the Iqaluit courthouse Aug. 26, 2010. His convictions on three counts of second degree murder and two counts of attempted murder were overturned by the Nunavut Court of Appeal in January 2013. On Jan. 14, 2015, Bishop avoided a retrial by pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter and two counts of attempted murder. (FILE PHOTO)

(Updated 7 a.m., Jan. 15)

Chris Bishop pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter and two counts of attempted murder in an Iqaluit courtroom Jan. 14, by way of a joint submission from Crown and defence lawyers.

Kevin Komaksiut, 21, and Keith Atatahak, 28, of Cambridge Bay, as well as Dean Costa, 29, of Edmonton, died in the Jan. 6, 2007 shooting incident that led to Bishop’s charges.

Logan Pigalak and Antoinette Bernhardt of Cambridge Bay suffered bullet wounds.

The shootings occurred after a group of people, who apparently attempted to assault Bishop, broke down his door in a home invasion.

Once the group forced their way into his home, Bishop began shooting at them with an assault rifle equipped with a “banana clip” — an illegal magazine that holds 30 shells and allows continuous firing.

The plea agreement, accepted by Justice Robert Kilpatrick, means Bishop will not stand retrial.

A 12-member jury had convicted Bishop on three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in 2010.

But the Nunavut Court of Appeal overturned those convictions in January 2013, in a judgment that found the presiding judge, Justice John Vertes, made mistakes in law and fact that prevented Bishop from making a full defence.

The appeal court found Vertes allowed the court to hear inadmissible evidence that portrayed Bishop in a bad light and also failed to allow evidence that could have informed the jury about the home invaders’ past history of violence.

The Crown lawyers working on Bishop’s retrial were bound by the appeal court ruling, especially the appeal court’s findings on what evidence would have been allowed at a retrial, Paul Culver, lead Crown lawyer in the case, told Nunatsiaq News outside the courtroom Jan. 15.

“It wouldn’t have been the same trial it was the first time,” Culver said.

The restrictions on permissible evidence could have opened the possibility that Bishop’s defence lawyer would have sought acquittals on the murder charges, said Jay Potter, another Crown prosecutor working on the case.

“The fact that he’s entered pleas to manslaughter indicates that he’s willing to accept responsibility for causing the death of the three people,” Potter said.

“But at the same time it shows that the Crown, on a new trial, may not have been able…to negate beyond a reasonable doubt some of the defences that could’ve been raised.”

After Bishop entered his pleas, Kilpatrick heard two victim impact statements that Culver read.

Clara Wingnek, who was Costa’s common-law partner and knew all three of the manslaughter victims, wrote one of the statements.

“The emotional pain I feel every time that I see [Costa’s children] post a photo of their dad or ask what their dad was like is like a sledgehammer hammering away at my heart,” Wingnek wrote.

“What Christopher did took all this away from us.”

Bishop appeared calm and relaxed throughout the hearing, wearing a grey button-up shirt, purple tie, prison sweatpants and silver wire-framed glasses on his clean-shaven face.

But in a short statement to Kilpatrick, he expressed remorse.

“I wish I could go back eight years and make better decisions,” Bishop said.

“I’m very sad and sorry for everything that has happened. That’s all I have to say.”

Bishop’s defence lawyer James Morton, along with Potter, each recommended a sentence of about 20 years, starting from when Bishop was arrested in January 2007.

Since the day of his arrest in 2007, Bishop has been held in custody continuously — eight years and eight days inside four different correctional institutions in Nunavut and Ontario.

For sentencing, Potter recommended that Bishop receive credit of between eight and 15 years for time spent in custody.

Morton, citing “hardships” endured during Bishop’s incarceration, recommended Kilpatrick give his client credit for a period closer to 17 years.

Kilpatrick scheduled a sentence hearing for March 3, saying he expects to complete his written decision as early as mid-February.