Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jan 06/03) - Justice officials say a lack of evidence is the reason why a murder charge in the killing of a 13-year-old girl was stayed.

On Dec. 24 the Crown stayed the first-degree murder charge laid against Ivan Kilabuk Joamie, 24, on Dec. 15.

Joamie was charged with the killing of Jennifer Anna Naglingniq, 13.

Her body was discovered in her Iqaluit home shortly after midnight Dec. 6. Police have released few details, including cause of death.

In a stay, the Crown has up to a year to reactivate the charge.

"When we got the case and (Joamie) was charged, we began our review of the evidence brought to our attention," explained Richard Meredith, regional director for the Department of Justice in Iqaluit.

"We have to have a reasonable prospect of conviction ... the basis of our decision on (Dec.) the 24th is that there was an insufficient case to proceed with. Under those circumstances, we're obligated not to proceed and we stayed the charge," he said.

Unusual to stay charges

The criteria the police use prior to charging a suspect with a crime is different than that used by the Crown prosecutors, Meredith said.

He said police criteria include reasonable and probable grounds and though most cases pass the tests of both authorities, this time the evidence did not pass Crown inspection.

In many jurisdictions, police would have consulted with the Department of Justice before laying such a serious charge in an emotionally-charged case.

When Joretta Inuktalik, a seven-week-old infant was found frozen to death outside her home in Holman last March 1, RCMP sent the case off to Yellowknife to be reviewed by federal prosecutors.

On Nov. 22, police decided not to lay any charges in Inuktalik's death after the review by RCMP and federal prosecutors.

"This isn't a common practice or something you usually see," said Meredith, referring to the charge against Joamie in the Naglingniq case. Conviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 24 years.

Iqaluit RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Jeffrey, the detachment commander, declined to comment.

He said a team of 11 officers continued to investigate Naglingniq's death. He refused to say if police had other suspects, but he did say no one else was in custody.

Jeffrey also refused to say if police officers took DNA samples from Joamie during his nine days in custody.

Calls to Joamie's lawyer were not returned.

Bad memories

The gruesome crime is raising horrific memories for another Iqaluit family.

Elisapee Sheutiapik and Betty-Ann Eaton immediately remembered their slain 16-year old sister when news of Naglingniq's death broke.

Mary-Ann Birmingham was killed in May 1986 after she was severely beaten and stabbed more than 25 times. Though a man was charged with the crime and went through a preliminary hearing, the presiding judge ruled there was not sufficient evidence to commit him to stand trial.

The sisters are terrified Naglingniq's killer will also remain free and are frustrated by the justice system. Neither woman understands how murders go unsolved in such a small community and vow they'll get answers this year.

"People have been approaching me lately with things they know or heard. I'm determined this is the year something positive comes out of this," said Sheutiapik.

"The hurt is still there for me, but now I'm angry," said Sheutiapik. "I'm angry because someone is walking away with this," she said.

Eaton agrees. The pair began pushing the police for answers two years ago and are ready to begin looking into their sister's death once again.

They said they had renewed their efforts, but then put them on hold the last few weeks because they didn't want to interfere in the investigation surrounding Naglingniq's homicide.

"I didn't want them to take time away from this investigation because it's so fresh," said Eaton.

"We didn't want Jennifer's family to wait for 16 years."