Second beating death in Iqaluit house since 1999

Iqaluit resident Dale Pearce died on May 31 in Ottawa from injuries sustained in a drunken brawl at an Iqaluit residence on May 24. He was 50.

Chris Dederick, 33, was originally charged with aggravated assault in connection with the incident. The Crown is expected to raise the offence to a homicide charge after an autopsy this week.

Dederick appeared in court briefly this week. His lawyer requested an adjournment until July 8 to gather more information. Dederick offered a reassuring smile to his spouse and son before exiting the courtroom.

Pearce, who had been sent to the neurological observation unit at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, is the second person to die from a beating in House 2206C.

Shoatee Joannie, 39, died there in September, 1999, following an unsolved attack in the house, located near the Road to Nowhere. The cause of Joannie’s death was blunt-force trauma. Joannie’s killer remains at large.