Fresh eyes help solve old Iqaluit homicide

RCMP Insp. Frank Gallagher speaks with reporters in Iqaluit June 14. Gallagher said Jeffrey Salomonie, the 44-year old charged with the first-degree, was interviewed by police in 2009 but wasn’t charged until June 6, 2011, after investigators unveiled new information. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Jeffrey Salomonie was interviewed by police in 2009 in connection with the death of Daisy Curley, but originally passed over as a suspect, RCMP acknowledged June 14.

“The subject was not a suspect in the beginning,” said Insp. Frank Gallagher. “He was spoken to originally but not considered a suspect.”

Salomonie, 44, was arrested June 6 in Cape Dorset. He’s now in jail waiting for a July 5 court appearance to face a charge of first-degree murder in connection with Curley’s May, 2009 death, which stymied investigators for more than a year.

Investigators taped off Curley’s Iqaluit home for a week as they searched for clues. Police then circulated posters pleading with the public for information about the case.

Two retired RCMP homicide investigators opened up the Curley files and generated new leads for police to follow.

“We brought in a fresh set of eyes,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher said a five-member team assembled in January specifically to work on the case unearthed new evidence, which lead them to Salomonie as a suspect.

“As a result of the fresh tasks that they got the follow-up on they did end up coming up with some new evidence,” Gallagher said, adding he couldn’t give details about that evidence because the allegations against Salomonie are now before the courts.

Gallagher said V Division is still investigating five cold cases, although it’s pressed for resources.

Police are looking into three homicides and two suspicious deaths. The oldest case is the still-unsolved murder of Mary Ann Birmingham in 1986.

Police are also trying to solve the 1999 murder of Shoatee Joannie, and suspicious unsolved deaths in Kugaaruk, Qikiqtarjuaq and Resolute Bay.

“Any homicide or suspicious death investigation never closes,” said Sgt. Jimmy Akavak, urging anyone with information about unsolved cases to come forward to police.