Two of four people charged in connection with a Hay River homicide late last year are now facing lesser charges following court appearances Tuesday.
Twenty-five-year old Sasha Cayen, who appeared in Yellowknife’s territorial court in person, is now charged with manslaughter – a downgrade from the murder charge that was originally brought against her early in the new year. One count of robbery against Cayen remained unchanged.
Sasha Cayen, along with Tyler Cayen, Levi Cayen and James Thomas, are charged in the death of 25-year-old Alexander Norwegian, whose body was found inside a vehicle on the access road to Sandy Creek on the Hay River Reserve on Dec. 28.
Police believe he was killed sometime between Dec.26 and Dec.27 of last year.
All four individuals were initially charged with murder and robbery.
Tyler Cayen, 32, also saw his charges downgraded in court Tuesday. Tyler is still charged with one count of robbery, but instead of murder, he now faces one count of being an accessory to murder after the fact.
In what Crown prosecutor Jay Potter called a “particularization” of offences, murder charges against both Levi Cayen, 20, and James Thomas, 26, were entered specifically as first-degree murder charges -- the most serious murder charge under the criminal code. Both Levi Cayen and Thomas still face one count of robbery each.
When RCMP laid the first set of charges against the four accused – before the Crown became involved in the prosecution – the charges were simply worded as “murder.”
Thomas, appearing before Chief Judge Christine Gagnon via video, elected to be tried by a judge and jury, opting to have a preliminary inquiry beforehand.
Preliminary inquiries are hearings meant to test the strength of the Crown’s case against those charged before heading to trial.
No pleas have been entered in the still-early stages of the prosecution against the foursome.
Thomas is the only accused to have made an election at this time, but Potter said the remaining three will do so in due course.
While Potter couldn’t share details on what prompted the downgraded charges against Sasha and Tyler Cayen, he said the Crown always assesses whether charges have a reasonable prospect of conviction.
“Obviously, that informed the charges that we seek to prosecute,” said Potter.
Bail denied
Sasha Cayen, represented by her lawyer Charles Davison, also appeared before Justice Karan Shaner in NWT Supreme Court Tuesday for a bail hearing. She has been in custody since her arrest in early January.
On Friday, Shaner moved to deny Sasha bail, meaning she will remain in custody.
Evidence presented during the bail hearing is protected by a publication ban.
All four of the accused are due back in court on May 29.