Editor’s note: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some readers.
The first people to be seated in the gallery at the murder trial were the parents of the victim. They sat close behind the Crown, and the few times they spoke to each other it was in a whisper. They wore masks but their pain was palpable.
Over the next coming weeks, the Norwegians will hear in graphic detail how their son, Alex, was found beaten and frozen to death in his car on the Kátł’odeeche First Nation reserve near Hay River. He just 25.
Broad-shouldered Levi Cayen, the accused, sat next to his lawyer in a white dress shirt, black tie, pants and shoes in NWT Supreme Court on Feb. 9.
Cayen has pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder but guilty to robbery.
He looked into the glass in front of him, which reflected his face back to the gallery — serious brown eyes framed by a faded crew cut.
Cayen kept a cool composure, sipping water and periodically fidgeting. His leg shook and his chair danced slightly.
Justice Shannon Smallwood explained to the 14-person jury that two extra persons were added in case of a Covid-19 outbreak; however only 12 will be deliberate, as standard.
Smallwood instructed the jury to avoid media coverage on the case, including social media, and to refrain from conducting their own investigations: “You are the judges of the facts,” she said.
They also must avoid forming an opinion too soon or discussing the case with others. You are jurors 24 hours of the day until this trial is over, Smallwood said.
She also warned the jury they will be exposed to material that they may find “graphic and upsetting,” such as autopsy photos. Those images are protected by a publication ban.
In his opening statement, prosecutor Duane Praught painted a picture of a sad and lonely death — the robbery of a low-level drug dealer, Alex Norwegian that resulted in his demise, alone in his car, on that very cold night on Dec. 26, 2017.
“This case is about how he died,” said Praught, warning the jurors that the trial would be lengthy with “a lot” of evidence including maps and photographs — almost 1,000 images.
The jury will listen to witness testimony, including friends, family and acquaintances of both the accused and deceased.
The jury will hear from expert witnesses including CSI forensic pathologists, toxicologists, and from Cayen himself through a video statement made to the RCMP a few days after he was arrested.
Praught told the jury the evidence would show that Cayen, along with his co-accused, who were tried in 2021, was an active participant in the robbery, assault, confinement and death of Alex Norwegian.
The jury heard from the first witness in the case, RCMP Sgt. Brandon Humbke from the Hay River detachment, who responded to a call alerting him to the crime scene.
Humbke found Norwegian’s lifeless body in the driver’s seat, and his car vandalized with the windows broken.
The victim’s parent have sat through each trial of the co-accused, a source told Yellowknifer.