Nikolas Ibey guilty of first-degree murder of Savanna Pikuyak

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Jurors needed just three hours of deliberations Tuesday before finding Nikolas Ibey guilty of the first-degree murder of Savanna Pikuyak on Sept. 11, 2022.

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Ibey, 35, had already admitted killing Pikuyak and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder at the start of his trial on November 12, but that plea was rejected by the Crown.

Pikuyak, a 22-year-old nursing student, had recently rented a room from Ibey in the townhouse at 34 Woodvale Green after moving from her home in Sanirajak, Nunavut, to continue her studies at Algonquin College when she was murdered.

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Pikuyak’s family members were expected to make victim impact statements in court after the verdict was announced. A further statement was to be read on behalf of her community in Nunavut.

Crown prosecutors Michael Purcell and Sonia Beauchamp told jurors there was “ample” evidence that Ibey sexually abused Pikuyak before killing her, a factor that “elevated” the crime to first-degree murder.

Ibey’s defense attorney, Ewan Lyttle, said Pikuyak’s murder was “horrific, tragic and heartbreaking.”

He admitted that his client was guilty of murder but denied that Ibey had committed sexual assault.

During closing arguments to jurors Monday, the prosecution responded by showing jurors graphic crime scene photos of Pikuyak’s half-naked, beaten body after she was found lying face down on a mattress.

“The pictures say it all,” Beauchamp told the jury as she laid out the evidence that pointed to an “indisputable” sexual assault.

There were drops of blood on the carpet at the entrance to Pikuyak’s bedroom, where, according to the Crown, Ibey attacked Pikuyak with a piece of wood that was later found splattered with the victim’s blood.

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There were pools of blood on the carpet, showing that “the attack continued while she lay there” as Ibey forcibly confined her, Beauchamp said.

Ibey struck Pikuyak “repeatedly” in the arms, face and head with the piece of wood, Beauchamp said, and Pikuyak suffered defensive injuries as she tried to defend herself.

Prosecutors pointed to the positioning of the victim’s body: He was lying face down, legs spread and naked from the waist down, his underwear and pants around his ankles. Her shirt and bra were lifted over her chest and twisted together. She was gagged and strangled with a knotted sweater.

“She died of suffocation and strangulation,” Beauchamp said, and there was “abundant evidence” of both forced confinement and sexual assault.

No male DNA was found during an autopsy of the victim’s genitals, but Ibey’s DNA was found on Pikuyak’s left and right breasts.

“If you use common sense and look at the images, the only reasonable conclusion is that there was a sexual assault,” Beauchamp said. “It is clear that (Ibey) entered this room with one purpose in mind, the same purpose he had pursued throughout the night.”

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Ibey sexually assaulted and strangled Pikuyak after becoming sexually frustrated by an hours-long search for a sex worker earlier that night.

The Crown presented a series of text messages, sex chats and Internet searches for “companions” that began around 7 p.m. the night before the murder and ended around 3 a.m. on Sept. 11.

Ibey beat, restrained and abused Pikuyak, prosecutors said, before strangling her between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m

“There is no reason other than sexual assault to beat her, confine her, tie her up, gag her, lift her shirt and take off her pants,” Beauchamp said.

The act of stripping Pikuyak of his clothing was enough to constitute sexual assault, even if the attack did not continue, prosecutors said.

“This was a sexual murder,” she told the jury. “This was and is first degree murder.”

More to come…

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