'This wasn't supposed to happen': co-accused testifies in Hay River murder trial
CBC
A Yellowknife jury heard more on Friday about a call Levi Cayen allegedly made to police the night he was accused of killing a Hay River man five years ago.
Cayen is on trial for first degree murder in connection with the death of 25-year-old Alex Norwegian, who was found frozen in his vehicle on Sandy Creek Road with his windows smashed out.
On Friday, the court heard from Levi's 29-year-old cousin, Sasha Cayen, who gave her version of what happened on Dec. 27, 2017.
In early 2019, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Norwegian's death, was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison. She has since been released from custody.
Sasha testified that within 10 minutes of returning from robbing Alex Norwegian on a secluded road on the K'atl'odeeche Reserve, Levi Cayen left to call the police from a payphone at The Rooster convenience store in Hay River.
She said Cayen told her he and James Thomas left Norwegian "beat up pretty badly" and that he was worried about "leaving him out there" but didn't want to use his cellphone to report Norwegian as a drunk driver out on the secluded road.
Norwegian's frozen body wouldn't be found by a passer-by until more than a day later.
It's unclear why police didn't respond to the alleged call, or if they even received it.
Over two days of testimony, Sasha Cayen became hostile at times with Crown prosecutor Duane Praught, raising her voice when she couldn't remember specific details about the night Norwegian was killed.
"You guys are asking me to remember something from five years ago," Sasha Cayen yelled in response to questions from the Crown.
"I was half-cut. I don't remember!"
She told the court that she was a daily-user of crack cocaine and was on a multi-day drug and alcohol binge in late December 2017.
On Dec, 26th, 2017, Sasha Cayen said she was at James Thomas's house. In the late afternoon she texted Alex Norwegian to see if he had any crack cocaine she could buy.
The two arranged to meet on a secluded road known as the Portage where she believed Norwegian was "hiding out" from the police because of a warrant out for his arrest. She said Thomas drove her to pick up the drugs.
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