Tyler Hikoalok trial on hold until Friday
Reasons for delay under publication ban; Cambridge Bay man faces first-degree murder charge
Judge Anne London-Weinstein, pictured, is presiding over the trial of Tyler Hikoalok, charged with first-degree murder in the 2018 death of Elisabeth Salm in Ottawa. The trial is delayed until Friday for reasons that are under a publication ban. (Courtroom sketch by Lauren Foster-MacLeod)
The first-degree murder trial of Tyler Hikoalok is delayed once again, this time until Friday.
Hikoalok, 22, stands accused in the 2018 killing of Elisabeth Salm in Ottawa.
Defence lawyers were expected to begin presenting their case this week after the Crown wrapped up its case last week, but a delay has pushed that back.
The reasons for the delay are under a publication ban.
Salm, 59, was found in critical condition at the Christian Science Reading Room where she had been working on May 24, 2018.
She died the following afternoon at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, and two days after that Hikoalok was arrested and has been held in custody ever since.
Evidence presented to the jury during the Crown’s case showed Salm had been beaten and sexually assaulted.
Originally scheduled to start in late May, the trial has faced several delays this year for legal reasons, including a four-month delay over the summer.
Hikoalok, who is originally from Cambridge Bay, has entered a plea of not guilty.
Recent articles detailed that the trial would be accessible to the public via a zoom link, though I could not locate it. Where can the public access this to witness the preceding?