Gun-toting Cape Dorset rapist gets lifetime firearms ban

Elijah Quvianaqtuliaq, 28, will serve another seven years and three months in jail and be prohibited for the rest of his life from possessing firearms and ammunition, with no exemption for sustenance hunting. (FILE PHOTO)

WARNING: Some parts of this story may be disturbing for sensitive readers.

A Cape Dorset man who raped a young woman at gunpoint and terrorized four other people must serve 108 months in prison and live under a lifetime firearms possession ban with no exemption for hunting, Nunavut Justice Bonnie Tulloch said in a written ruling issued this week following a hearing in Cape Dorset this past Dec. 2.

Elijah Quvianaqtuliaq, 27 at the time, ran amok for only about 45 minutes in the early morning hours of Oct. 9, 2015 in Cape Dorset.

But his actions led to convictions on six criminal offences: sexual assault with a weapon, resisting arrest, possessing a firearm while prohibited, pointing a firearm, breach of probation and threatening to cause death.

Though Tulloch imposed most of her sentence at a hearing in Cape Dorset this past December, based on a joint submission from Crown and defence lawyers, she waited until this week to release written reasons that explain her decision not to grant a hunting exemption as part of the firearms ban.

The incident started at around 1 a.m. when police in Cape Dorset received multiple calls about a man with a rifle who was moving around the community threatening people.

At the time, a Cape Dorset resident who did not want his name published, told Nunatsiaq News that the man had raped a young woman at gunpoint and had talked about robbing people at a gambling house but was not allowed in.

An agreed statement of facts that lawyers gave Tulloch suggests that information was accurate.

Quvianaqtuliaq, intoxicated and armed with a pump-action rifle loaded with four cartridges, showed up at his former spousal partner’s house.

There, he asked his ex-partner “to take the gun from him before he went to shoot it,” Tulloch’s judgment said. Quvianaqtuliaq’s ex took the gun and put it in the porch.

But the man grabbed the gun and, declaring that he was going to rob people at a gambling house, left the house. His ex-partner ran to a neighbour’s to call police.

Meanwhile, a Cape Dorset man who was driving an all-terrain vehicle with a passenger on the back said Quvianaqtuliaq pointed the gun at him as he drove by. The ATV driver also called the police.

Meanwhile, Quvianaqtuliaq arrived at another house where he found a young woman identified only as “L.M.” standing on the porch. After L.M. walked down the steps, Quvianaqtuliaq grabbed her by the arm and, threatening to kill her, ordered her to find a place where they could have sex.

He told the young woman he had four shells: three to shoot other people and one to shoot himself. They arrived at another house, which was occupied at the time by a man and a woman.

Tulloch’s judgment said Quvianaqtuliaq ordered L.M. and the man inside the house to sit down, while he repeatedly recycled the action of the gun, emptying the magazine, reloading and re-chambering his four rounds of ammunition.

“If you don’t have sex with me I’ll shoot you. I can shoot you right now,” he told L.M.

He took her to a bedroom, ordered L.M. to get undressed and then began to rape her, holding the firearm in his right hand.

“She wanted to stop, but she was very afraid for her life,” Tulloch’s judgment said.

And during the sexual assault, Quvianaqtuliaq demanded that L.M. praise the size of his penis, Tulloch said.

“The accused asked L.M. if his penis was bigger than two of L.M.’s ex-boyfriend’s penises. The accused told L.M. that if she said his penis was smaller, he would shoot her,” her judgement said.

Quvianaqtuliaq stopped after L.M. told him the owner of the house was returning with her child.

After the L.M. and Quvianaqtuliaq stepped on to the porch for a cigarette, police rushed him and attempted a “high-risk takedown” after he rested the gun against the railing of the stairs.

But Quvianaqtuliaq ran away before police were able to put him into handcuffs. They arrested him later after a search.

At the time, he had just completed a long jail sentence for crimes committed against his ex-partner, and he was under two probation orders and a firearms prohibition flowing from previous convictions.

Although Quvianaqtuliaq was only 27 when he committed his most recent crimes, his criminal record includes seven convictions for assaulting his ex-partner, Tulloch said.

His record also lists three assaults with a weapon, one assault on a police officer, seven breaches of court orders, three convictions for uttering threats and two firearms offences.

All five victims of his Oct. 9, 2015 crime spree gave victim impact statements to the court last December.

“Each one thought they were going to be shot and killed. Each person has been significantly impacted by the accused’s actions,” Tulloch said.

As for the young woman who he sexually assaulted at gunpoint, Tulloch said the experience has caused her “significant harm.”

“She will never be the same. Her life has changed dramatically and I sincerely hope that she is getting the professional counselling she needs to move on,” Tulloch said.

Based on his guilty pleas on the six charges, she sentenced him to 108 months, or nine years in prison.

After granting him credit for 21 months of pre-trial custody, Tulloch left him with 87 months, or seven years and three months, to serve in jail.

Quvianaqtuliaq also appears to be a victim of the Government of Nunavut’s social promotion practices in school.

Tulloch said he got as far as Grade 12, when he dropped out, but he barely knows how to read and write.

“He was passed through the school system from grade to grade, despite not having the skills he might need to succeed in the next grade. He told his lawyer that he reads and writes ‘a little bit,’” Tulloch said.

And Tulloch ordered that he be banned from owning firearms and ammunition for the rest of his life, and refused a defence request that he be granted an exemption for the purpose of sustenance hunting.

“This is someone who has lost the privilege of owning or possessing a firearm and, based on his history, I am not convinced that if I were to grant a sustenance hunting exemption he would use a weapon solely for that purpose,” Tulloch said.

2017 NUCJ 01 R. v. Quvianaqtuliaq by NunatsiaqNews on Scribd