Nikolas Ibey guilty of first-degree murder of Savannah Pikuyak

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

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Ibey, 35, has already pleaded guilty to killing Pikuyak and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder at the start of his Nov. 12 trial, but that charge was rejected by the Crown.

Pikuyak, a 22-year-old nursing student, had recently rented a room from Ibey in a 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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After the verdict, Pikuyak’s family members were expected to submit victim impact statements to the court. Another statement was to be read on behalf of her community in Nunavut.

Crown prosecutors Michael Purcell and Sonia Beauchamp told the jury there was “sufficient” evidence that Ibey sexually assaulted Pikuyak before killing her, which “elevates” the crime to first-degree murder.

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

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

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

“The photos say it all,” Beauchamp told the jury, presenting evidence showing an “undeniable” sexual assault.

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

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Beauchamp said there were pools of blood on the carpet, which meant “the attack continued while she was lying down” as Ibey forcibly restrained her.

Ibey struck Pikuyak in the arms, face and head “over and over again” with a piece of wood, Beauchamp said, and Pikuyak suffered defensive injuries as she tried to fight back.

Prosecutors pointed to the position of the victim’s body: lying face down, with his legs spread, naked from the waist down, with underwear and pants reaching to his ankles. Her shirt and bra were raised above her chest and twisted together. She was gagged and strangled with a tied sweater.

“She died strangled and suffocated,” Beauchamp said, and there was “sufficient evidence” of both forced confinement and sexual assault.

An autopsy of the victim’s genitals did not reveal any male DNA, but Ibey’s DNA was found on Pikuyak’s left and right breasts.

“When you use common sense and look at the photos, the only reasonable conclusion is that a sexual assault occurred,” Beauchamp said. “It is clear that (Ibey) entered this room with one goal, the same goal he had been pursuing all night long.”

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Ibey sexually assaulted and strangled Pikuyak after he became sexually frustrated as a result of his hours-long search for a prostitute earlier in the night.

The Crown presented multiple text messages, sex chats and Internet searches for “escorts” that began around 7 p.m. the night before the killing and ended around 3 a.m. on September 11.

Prosecutors say Ibey beat, held down and sexually abused Pikuyak before choking her to death between 3 and 9 a.m.

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

According to prosecutors, simply removing Pikuyak’s clothes was enough to constitute sexual assault, even if the assault did not extend further.

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

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