Jury selected in Nikolas Ibey murder case

On the first day of Nikolas Ibey’s murder trial, it took less than two hours for lawyers and the judge to narrow the pool of nearly 100 potential jurors down to 12 plus two alternates Tuesday.

While all the potential jurors were in attendance, Justice Robert L. Maranger outlined the charge against Ibey.

Savanna Pikuyak is pictured here in a photo provided by her mother. (Photo courtesy of Sheba Pikuyak)

Some potential jurors looked visibly distraught as Maranger said, “The offence in this case is first-degree murder, with an underlying allegation of a sexual assault.”

On Sept 11, 2022, it’s alleged Ibey killed his then-roommate, 22-year-old Savanna Pikuyak, only days after she had moved to Ottawa from Sanirajak to study nursing at Algonquin College.

Pikayuk had just moved into a two-storey rowhouse in Ottawa’s Nepean area, about two kilometres south of the college’s main campus.

Ibey was charged Sept. 12, 2022, with second-degree murder but the charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder.  He was 33 at the time.

On Tuesday, Ibey, appearing heavier than he did at his preliminary hearing in the summer of 2023, sat in the prisoner’s box, at times staring straight ahead, as the judge went through the process of selecting jurors.

By 1 p.m., the trial was ready to proceed with the judge’s opening statement, and the Crown’s opening statements.

Due to a flight delay, the victim’s family could not be in court on Tuesday so Crown lawyer Sonia Beauchamp asked the judge to defer opening remarks to Wednesday.

At the beginning of jury selection, Maranger reminded the potential jurors that in serving on a jury, “you become a direct participant in the decision-making process in our justice system; in a democracy, you cannot get any closer than that.”

The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Ottawa courthouse.