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Guilty plea in downtown beating death of Mark Poodlat

Brendan Burke
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Facebook photo. Mark Poodlat, 36, is being remembered by friends as funny and hardworking, someone who would often act as peacemaker on the streets of Yellowknife. A 32-year-old man has been charged with murder after Poodlat was beaten outside the Sobering Centre/Day Shelter on Tuesday. Aug. 6, 2019.

A 33-year-old man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the downtown beating death of Mark Poodlat.

Victor Ugyuk entered the plea in NWT Supreme Court in Yellowknife on Monday.

Facebook photo.
Mark Poodlat, 36, died in an Edmonton hospital two days after being beaten in downtown Yellowknife on Sept. 3, 2019.

Poodlat, 36, died in an Edmonton hospital after being beaten outside the joint sobering center and day shelter during the early evening hours of Sept. 3, 2019.

Poodlat’s mother, present in court Monday, wept throughout the proceedings.

Ugyuk was originally charged with aggravated assault. That charge was upgraded to murder following Poodlat's death.

Friends of Poodlat remembered him as a kind and caring peacemaker, who often broke up altercations on the street.

“They had to take my friend’s life? That was unnecessary and now he’s gone,” said Timothy Base told NNSL Media last year.

Ugyuk will be back in court on Aug. 24 for a sentencing hearing.