Ibey defence calls lone expert witness in first-degree murder trial

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Nikolas Ibey’s defence lawyers will make their closing arguments to the jury on Friday in his first-degree murder trial after calling a sole witness to testify on behalf of the defence.

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Retired physician Dr. Peter Markesteyn, a consultant in forensic pathology who served as chief medical examiner in Newfoundland and Manitoba, testified Tuesday about his re-examination of the post-mortem report into Savanna Pikuyak’s violent death.

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The testimony largely focused on a small “mark” — possibly an abrasion or a laceration — that was detected in post-mortem photographs of the victim’s genitals.

Crown attorneys Michael Purcell and Sonia Beauchamp told the jury that Pikuyak was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death between 3 and 9 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2022 after Ibey was left frustrated by his hours-long search for a sex worker earlier that night.

Pikuyak, a 22-year-old nursing student, had recently rented the room from Ibey at 34C Woodvale Green and moved from her home in Sanirijak, Nunavut to pursue her studies at Algonquin College days before she was killed.

Markesteyn testified by video from his home in Winnipeg Tuesday and told the court he agreed with the majority of findings in the post-mortem report prepared by Dr. James MacPherson, the forensic pathologist who examined Pikuyak’s body and testified as a Crown witness earlier at the trial.

Markesteyn agreed that Pikuyak’s cause of death was compression of the neck and obstruction of the upper airway and that she would have died in a matter of minutes.

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Pikuyak’s arms had signs of defensive injuries, and Markesteyn agreed with the conclusion that the injuries to her head and upper body were consistent with blunt-force injuries.

Under questioning from Ibey’s defence lawyer, Ewan Lyttle, Markesteyn said it was impossible to determine the origin of a “mark” that was seen in photos of the victim’s genitals.

The mark was not detected by the pathologist during the initial autopsy and was only seen upon a review of post-mortem photographs.

Markesteyn conducted a re-examination of the post-mortem report, including autopsy photos, crime scene photos and a review of MacPherson’s testimony.

From reviewing the photos and the report alone, and without testing the area for “trace evidence” or conducting a microscopic examination, Markesteyn said it was impossible to determine the origin of the mark, whether it was an abrasion or a laceration or how long it had been there.

When asked by Lyttle whether reviewing a photograph was a reliable method to assess and classify an injury, he answered bluntly, “It is not.”

During cross-examination by the Crown, Markesteyn agreed it was “possible” that the “pinpoint” mark could have been caused by a penis or a fingernail.

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“It could be anything,” he said. “It is so small that I don’t know what it is.”

MacPherson was challenged during his testimony earlier at the trial when Lyttle pointed out several apparent “oversights” in the post-mortem examination of Pikuyak’s body.

MacPherson incorrectly stated that he had completed a swab of Pikuyak’s genitals when, in fact, it was his supervisor who had conducted the test.

Forensic investigators did not find evidence of semen when they examined Pikuyak’s body and clothing.

No male DNA was found in an examination of her genitals.

Trace amounts of Ibey’s DNA were found, however, on her left and right breast and on the waistband of her underwear.

Forensic investigators found Pikuyak’s DNA on Ibey’s underwear and on the inside front panel of the blue shorts he was wearing when he was arrested.

Police arrived to the townhouse shortly after 10 a.m. on Sept. 11 to find Pikuyak’s body on a bloodied mattress after they were alerted to the crime scene by Ibey’s father.

Ibey texted his father at 9:56 a.m. and confessed he “got into the booze and drugs last night and killed my roommate.”

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The length of wood found on the bedroom floor was spattered with blood that matched Pikuyak’s DNA profile. Her blood was also found in a swab taken from the carpeting at the entrance to her bedroom, on a light switch in the entrance and on a bathroom faucet upstairs.

Ibey entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder at the outset of his trial on Nov. 12, but that plea was rejected by the Crown. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

The Crown closed its case against Ibey on Monday. The jury is expected to hear final arguments from the prosecution and from Ibey’s defence lawyers on Friday.

ahelmer@postmedia.com

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