Man charged with Igloolik murder faces preliminary inquiry next April

Steven Akittirq, 25, will return to the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit in April 2016. (FILE PHOTO)

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for the man charged in the death of a teenage girl in Igloolik in June 2014

Steven Akittirq, 25, will attend that hearing in April 2016, Justice Bonnie Tulloch said Oct. 5 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

Akittirq was also scheduled to enter pleas on four other charges during his Oct. 5 court date, but those have now been set aside until the preliminary hearing next year.

Akittirq is charged with one count of possession of an illegal drug, two counts of assault and one count of assault causing bodily harm.

“Mr. Akittirq is on remand in British Columbia, so it’s very difficult to take instructions from him while he’s there,” said Alison Crowe, his defence lawyer.

Akittirq is being held in remand in British Columbia because of continuing renovations at the Baffin Correctional Centre.

The victim, a teenage girl, was discovered outside Igloolik on June 9, 2014.

That prompted a criminal investigation by the Nunavut RCMP Major Crimes Unit, which led to charges against Akittirq three days later.

On the day the girl’s body was discovered, Aggu MLA Paul Quassa offered public condolences to Igloolik residents at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

A preliminary hearing occurs before a trial and allows a judge to determine whether there’s enough evidence to justify a trial, and on what charges

Evidence given during a preliminary hearing cannot be published until after the trial.