Tuktoyaktuk man accused of kidnapping, assault takes last-minute plea deal

A week-long trial that was scheduled to begin today in Yellowknife has been called off after just one day in the Northwest Territories Supreme Court.

Kelly Ovayuak had been expected to plead not guilty, but changed his plea at the last minute. Ovayuak pleaded guilty to the charges of aggravated assault and breaching a no-contact order with a victim.

The 47-year-old originally faced 10 charges including kidnapping, break and enter, failing to stop for police and impaired driving, but the majority were dropped as part of a plea deal.

Ovayuak is accused of breaking into a home in Inuvik on April 2, 2022, and assaulting a man, then kidnapping and assaulting a woman.

In an agreed statement of facts, prosecutors revealed Ovayuak attacked the woman while driving her truck to Tuktoyaktuk on the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway - fracturing her nose and causing a laceration to her eyebrow area.

The woman fled the vehicle 80 kilometers outside Inuvik with no shoes on, only to return later to the truck due to the –30 C temperature outside.

Ovayuak proceeded to lead police on a high speed chase, before officers used spike strips to deflate his tires. He was taken into custody immediately.

His victim suffered severe frostbite on her left hand and both feet, requiring months of flesh removal that concluded in the removal of nine toes.

The laceration to her brow additionally led to nerve damage, temporarily limiting movement of her eyebrow.

Ovayuak was given a 16-month jail sentence earlier this month for repeatedly breaching a no-contact order with the same victim while incarcerated.

Prosecutors say Ovayuak, who was scheduled to appear in-person, refused to leave the North Slave Correctional Centre this morning, leading to an hour-long delay for the proceedings.

Other than telling the court he was pleading guilty, Ovayuak sat quietly through the proceedings, but suddenly stuck his tongue out and laughed as Justice Andrew Mahar left the courtroom. Some friends and family of the victim, who sat in the back of the room, noticed Ovayuak's facial expressions. Some gasped, some remarked they were frustrated, and one asked if such behaviour was allowed in court.

Ovayuak is scheduled for sentencing in Yellowknife on Thursday, April 18.