SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The trial of repeat sex offender Bobby Zoe began in territorial court on Wednesday in the case of a home invasion and sexual assault earlier this year.

Zoe stands accused of breaking into and entering an apartment downtown and sexually assaulting a woman inside.

The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 15, when the victim, whose name is protected by a publication ban, awoke to find a man standing beside her bed and touching her vagina through her flannel pajama pants.

"I was so confused in those moments," the victim told the court on Wednesday, stating that when she initially opened her eyes she thought it was her partner standing beside the bed. "You never expect there to be a stranger in your house in the middle of the night."

According to the victim, the figure standing beside her bed wore a red winter coat and a backpack. She said he was bundled up in a hat and scarf so she could not see his face. The woman said she could not positively identify whether or not it was Zoe in her room that night.

"I just remember his eyes looking at me," she said.

The man at her bedside put a finger to his lips said "Shh," but instead the victim screamed and woke up her partner, who was on the other side of the bed. The intruder immediately fled the apartment, chased by the victim's partner. After a brief scuffle in the apartment building's stairwell the intruder escaped but not before having his backpack pulled off of him.

A short time later, Zoe was arrested and charged in relation to the incident. He was on probation at the time after serving part of a sentence for breaking into a home in Old Town in October of 2013 while a couple and their two teenage daughters were sleeping. He was sentenced to 21 months in jail in February 2014.

On Wednesday, Justice R.J. McIntosh, a visiting judge from Alberta, also heard testimony from the victim's partner, a man who had been with Zoe earlier that evening and from one of the officers who arrested Zoe.

RCMP Const. Josh Mielken told the court that just before 5 a.m. on the morning of Feb. 15, he responded to a radio dispatch of a break and enter and sexual assault. Along with another officer, he patrolled the area and quickly spotted Zoe - who he said fit the description of the suspect - walking down Franklin Avenue toward Old Airport Road. Mielken told the court that in speaking with Zoe he did not appear to be agitated or intoxicated, describing his demeanor as "aloof" and "fairly calm."

Mielken said he received a call from a fellow officer at the scene of the crime who had searched the backpack left behind by the assailant and found bank documents bearing Zoe's name. With Zoe handcuffed in the back of the RCMP vehicle, Mielken drove to the apartment building parking lot where the incident occurred.

According to Mielken, Cpl. Paul Woodfine approached the vehicle with a man who identified Zoe as the person who had broken into the apartment. Mielken then brought Zoe to the RCMP detachment when he was processed and put into a cell.

Court was adjourned after Mielken's testimony, with more RCMP officers slated to speak in court on Thursday.

In addition to the 2013 incident in Old Town, Zoe was also convicted in 2012 of a brutal sexual assault on a 23-year-old woman - also a stranger to Zoe - who was attacked while walking alone on 53 Street in January 2011. Zoe was sentenced to 39 months in prison with time served awaiting trial and was released early for good behaviour after serving less than 18 months of his sentence.

Zoe has at least three sexual assault-related convictions on his criminal record. His trial is expected to conclude today.

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