(CBC News) – An Iqaluit jury has found Pingoatuk Kolola guilty of murdering an RCMP officer in a remote Nunavut community more than two years ago.
The 11 jurors in the Nunavut Court of Justice trial convicted Kolola, 39, on Thursday of first-degree murder in the Nov. 5, 2007, shooting death of Const. Douglas Scott in the eastern Arctic community of Kimmirut.
Scott, 20, was shot while responding alone to a drunk-driving complaint in the remote Baffin Island hamlet of about 400, located 120 kilometres south of Iqaluit on Baffin Island.
Kolola admitted to firing the rifle shot that killed Scott, but maintained it was an accident. Defence lawyers asked the jury to convict Kolola on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The jurors, who were selected from Kimmirut and Iqaluit, were seen crying as they left the courtroom after their verdict was delivered around 1:30 p.m. ET.
Kolola’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday morning. A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no parole eligiblity for at least 25 years.
The trial began Feb. 22 at the Iqaluit courthouse with 12 jurors, but one member was later excused. The remaining jurors had been sequestered since Monday afternoon.
Mountie in North 6 months
During deliberations, jurors came back to the court three times to request printed transcripts of various witness testimonies.
Scott hailed from Lyn, a community near Brockville, Ont. He had been posted in the North for only six months when he was killed, according to the RCMP.
Members of Scott’s family have been in Iqaluit for the trial but have not commented publicly on the proceedings. They were expected to make a statement after the verdict.
Scott’s death, along with the slaying of an RCMP officer in Hay River, N.W.T., a month earlier, prompted the national police force to review its backup policy for remote locations.
Both Scott and 30-year-old Const. Christopher Worden, who was gunned down Oct. 6, 2007, were killed while responding alone to calls for assistance. Emrah Bulatci, 25, was convicted in November of first-degree murder in connection with Worden’s death.
Shot while seated in vehicle
During Kolola’s trial, court was told that Scott was sitting in his parked RCMP truck when he was shot in the head through the vehicle’s passenger side window.
A distraught and suicidal Kolola had been driving drunk around Kimmirut following a fight he had with his common-law wife, who had threatened to have him evicted from their house.
Kolola took their eight-month-old son, Adam, with him as he drove the local housing association’s truck recklessly around the hamlet until the vehicle became stuck at a local construction site.
Kolola said he had meant to fire a warning shot to scare away the Mountie, who was approaching him in the RCMP truck.
One Kimmirut witness said he saw Kolola holding the baby in one arm and a rifle in the other as he fled the construction site. Other witnesses testified that Kolola later admitted to killing Scott.
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