Nunavut murder suspect appears in court

Pablo Kappi will appear in Nunavut court again Sept. 29 to answer to second degree murder charges in the death of Joseph Patterk. (FILE PHOTO)

The July death of a Rankin Inlet man is Nunavut’s first homicide case of 2015 to make it to a courtroom.

Pablo Kappi, 25, is charged with the second-degree murder of Joseph Patterk, 26, following an early morning incident in Rankin Inlet that left Patterk in “medical distress.”

He later died from his injuries.

Kappi appeared in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit briefly Aug. 11 and remains in custody until his next court date, set for Sept. 29, when he’s expected to enter a plea.

The office of Nunavut’s coroner won’t yet release the cause of Patterk’s death, citing an ongoing police investigation.

Only one other homicide has been confirmed in Nunavut so far in 2015, although that case won’t make it trial.

Members of the RCMP have wrapped up an investigation into the death of two young people in the Kitikmeot community of Kugluktuk Aug. 3, confirming their deaths were a murder-suicide.

Nunavut’s chief coroner Padma Surumala confirmed that a 14-year-old girl died was strangled to death Aug. 3 in a local residence. Her attacker, a 20-year-old male, then shot himself fatally.

The coroner’s office has not released the names of the deceased to protect the family’s privacy.

Police also continue to investigate the death of a 39-year-old Pond Inlet man, who died suddenly July 17 after an altercation. Police have yet to say if they suspect homicide.

In response to another sudden death, the office of the chief coroner said it will hold an inquest to determine how a four-month-old baby girl died in Iqaluit earlier this summer.

The infant, Amelia Annie Keyoota, was in the custody of the department of Family Services when she died at the Qikiqtani General Hospital July 29.

Over the past five years, Nunavut has suffered 26 homicides. Here’s a breakdown by year:

• 2010 — 6;

• 2011 — 7;

• 2012 — 5;

• 2013 — 4; and,

• 2014 — 4.

This reveals that despite the number of deaths being investigated in Nunavut this summer, statistics show homicides in Nunavut are on a downward trend.