Inquest set for 2003

A coroner’s inquest into the death of Colin Kaotalok, 18, has been set for Jan. 28, 2003.

Kaotalok died on Nov. 23 from a self-inflicted injury while serving a sentence in open custody at an Iqaluit transition house. The Cambridge Bay resident was serving 10-months for assault and breach of probation when he died.

The inquest is expected to take three days.

The government is required by law to conduct an inquest if an inmate dies while in custody. Three inmates died in three separate incidents in 2001 while under the care of the Government of Nunavut’s justice department.

Aipeelee Oshutsiaq, 33, died at the Baffin Correctional Centre on March 16, 2001. An inquest determined heart disease was the cause of death.

Bruce Aasivaaryuk, 25, died from exposure between Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, 2001, while at the Arviat Correctional Camp. An inquest said Aasivaaryuk died after he became separated from his group and a blizzard rolled in.