Igloolik murder trial delayed as accused finds new lawyer

A Nunavut justice has delayed the case of an Igloolik man accused of murdering a young woman this past June.

That’s because the defence lawyer assigned to the case has been appointed as a provincial court judge in Alberta, an Iqaluit courtroom heard Sept. 30.

Steven Akittirq, 24, who appeared briefly via video-conference from the Baffin Correctional Centre before Justice Robert Kilpatrick, faces a charge of first degree murder related to an incident alleged to have occurred in June.

Police in Igoolik were alerted to the body of a young woman who had been found just outside the community June 9.

Defence lawyer Julie Bedford appeared in court on behalf of Akittirq’s previous lawyer, Laura Stevens. Stevens has been called to the Albertan bench, Bedford said.

The Edmonton Journal reported that Stevens had been named a provincial court judge earlier this month.

Stevens defended a number of high-profile cases in Nunavut, including the second-degree murder trial of Adrian Van Eindhoven in 2013.

Bedford asked Kilpatrick for three weeks to give Akittirq time to find a new lawyer.

Akittirq, who also faces one charge of assault and one charge of possessing an illegal substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, will next appear in court Oct. 21, Kilpatrick said.

First degree murder is considered the most serious form of homicide in Canada and carries an automatic life imprisonment sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.