Tyler Hikoalok murder trial adjourned until Nov. 28
Cambridge Bay man accused of killing volunteer librarian Elisabeth Salm in 2018
Tyler Hikoalok sits in the prisoner box on Oct. 11 at the Ottawa courthouse. Hikoalok, 22, faces a first-degree murder charge in the 2018 death of Elisabeth Salm. His trial, which began on Sept. 12, has been adjourned until Nov. 28 for reasons that are under a publication ban. (Courtroom sketch by Lauren Foster-MacLeod)
After an unexpected weeklong delay, the first-degree murder trial of Tyler Hikoalok has been adjourned until Nov. 28.
Hikoalok, originally from Cambridge Bay, is accused of killing Elisabeth Salm in 2018. On May 24 of that year, Salm was found severely injured on the floor of the Christian Science Reading Room in downtown Ottawa.
Salm, 59, had been working her usual morning shift as a volunteer librarian in the centre’s study room. She died the following afternoon at the Ottawa Civic Hospital from a traumatic head injury.
Hikoalok, now 22 years old, was arrested two days later on May 27 and charged with Salm’s murder.
The trial was originally meant to start in May, but a pre-trial motion pushed that back by several months.
When it did begin, on Sept. 12, it was scheduled to last for five weeks.
Over the first three weeks, the Crown called more than 20 witnesses who recounted the gruelling details of discovering Salm badly beaten and the unsuccessful efforts made to save her.
Testimony was also heard from experts on DNA evidence and from people who knew Hikoalok prior to his arrest. The Crown closed its case Sept. 29.
Defence lawyers were expected to open their case Oct. 3, but a delay put proceedings on hold.
On Tuesday, Hikoalok appeared in the courtroom with the sides of his head shaved and the hair on top of his head pulled back. Judge Anne London-Weinstein informed the jury that the trial will be adjourned until Nov. 28.
The reasons for the adjournment are under a publication ban.
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