Ottawa jury to return to courtroom Tuesday for Tyler Hikoalok murder trial
Reasons for weeklong delay under publication ban
Tyler Hikoalok sits in the prisoner box during the first week of witness testimonies at the Ottawa courthouse. Hikoalok faces a first-degree murder charge in the 2018 death of Elisabeth Salm. (Courtroom sketch by Lauren Foster-MacLeod)
The trial of Tyler Hikoalok remains stalled until Tuesday when the jury will be called back to court after an unexpected weeklong delay.
Hikoalok, 22, from Cambridge Bay, stands accused of first-degree murder in the death of Elisabeth Salm, four years ago in Ottawa.
On May 24, 2018, Salm was found badly beaten on the floor of the Christian Science Reading Room in the city’s downtown.
The Crown closed its case Sept. 29. Defence lawyers were expected to open their case this week, but that date has been pushed back.
The reasons for that delay are under a publication ban.
It remains unclear when the defence will start calling witnesses.
Over the first three weeks of the trial, which began Sept. 12, the jury heard how video footage and DNA evidence found at the crimes scene helped investigators narrow in on a suspect.
Hikoalok was arrested on May 27, two days after Salm’s death, and charged with her murder.
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