Quebec police watchdog finishes investigation in Nunavik community

KRPF officers responded to a domestic violence call March 15 that has since turned into the investigation of the death of a local man. The case has now been handed over to Quebec’s Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

Quebec investigators have wrapped up a two-day trip to a Nunavik community where they were looking into the death of a local man.

Kativik Regional Police Force officers in Inukjuak responded to a call of domestic abuse the evening of Thursday, March 15 from a woman who had fled her home, where her alleged abuser remained.

When police went to the couple’s home later to investigate, they found a man who appeared to be asleep. Officers tried to awaken the man, unsuccessfully, and left.

The following day, police took a statement from the woman and returned to the couple’s home to find the man in the same position, deceased.

The 44-year-old man’s body was sent to Montreal for an autopsy.

Community members in Inukjuak have identified the man as Billy Nutaraq, who would have turned 44 this week. They say he likely died of a heart attack, but Quebec’s coroner’s office could take months to release the man’s cause of death.

Because he died during a police investigation, Quebec’s Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes—the province’s independent police watchdog—has taken over the case, with the help of the Sûreté du Québec provincial police force.

The bureau flew in six investigators to Inukjuak from March 17 to 18 to look into the circumstances of the man’s death.

Anyone who has any information about the incident to share can contact the bureau via its website.