NWT Supreme Court Justice Ted Richard ordered the release of Margaret Anne Kierstead at a bail hearing in Yellowknife Dec. 12. The Crown did not oppose the release.

A court-ordered ban prohibits the publication of details of the hearing.

Dressed in a navy blue T-shirt and jeans, swaying side to side in her chair, Kierstead was ordered released on $5,000 no-deposit bail recognizance. She has to remain living with her parents in Fort McPherson and report to the RCMP three times a week.

Kierstead is charged with second-degree murder for the stabbing death of her brother, 42-year-old Bruce Patrick Francis.

RCMP arrived at the crime scene shortly after 2 a.m. Nov. 27 and found Francis lying on the floor of his parents' home, suffering from multiple stab wounds to his upper torso. He died at the nursing station around 4 a.m.

Kierstead has yet to enter a plea on the murder charge.