Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 05/05) - The family of the victim of a gang rape 30-years ago wasn't in the courtroom to hear guilty verdicts called out against three men charged with sexual assault.

The victim and her family followed the trial through its three-days in a Yellowknife courtroom, but disappeared as the eight-man, four-woman jury began deliberations.

The woman, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, relived the day in August 1975 on the first day of the trial, telling the jury of how she was gang raped at a house party in the East Arm community.

"I just wanted to die. I wished that they would kill me," the crying woman told the court.

The woman, now 44 and living in Edmonton, first went to the RCMP about the incident in 2001.

"I got tired of the life I was living," she said about keeping quiet for so long.

She alluded to abusing alcohol, drugs and men from the time of the rape onwards. "It was a nightmare."

First trial hung jury

This is the second trial in the case. The first in the fall of 2004 ended in a hung jury. Just moments before the first trial began, the Crown stayed charges against two other men accused in the case.

After the failed trial, Glen Boyd, counsel for Antoine Michel, hoped the Crown wouldn't pursue the case any further, calling it "an incredibly weak Crown case."

This week, he questioned the victim on differences in testimony between the first and second trials. The jury heard two days of testimony starting last Tuesday in the Supreme Court in Yellowknife.

The three defence lawyers made their closing arguments Thursday morning.

Hugh Latimer, defense attorney for Raymond Marlowe, asked the jury to use common sense when deciding on a verdict.

"The problem is the complainant's reliability," he told them, referring to the lack of medical records or counselling evidence in the trial.

Latimer then turned to the jury and quoted George Bush Sr., saying "I don't feel like I'm working with a full deck of cards."

The jury wasn't convinced, returning three guilty verdicts after a little more than three hours of deliberations.

The accused men, including Raymond Marlowe, who was just 15 at the time of the crime, sat stoically after hearing the verdict, leaning in to talk to their lawyers after the jury was dismissed.

Crown prosecutor Caroline Carrasco told Justice Virginia Schuler that she will seek long penitentiary terms for each of the men.

Sentencing has been set for Nov. 7-8. Schuler allowed Antoine Michel and Raymond Marlowe to go home to Lutsel K'e on continued release until then.

Noel Michel was remanded into custody.