Youth acquitted of second-degree murder in death of Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T., man

A youth who was on trial this week in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T., for second-degree murder has been found not guilty.

The acquittal comes after three days of trial where the court heard witnesses testify about the night Dien Erasmus, 28, died.

The accused, who was 16 at the time, cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Though there was no dispute that someone had killed Erasmus, Judge R.D. Gorin ruled that Crown prosecutors had failed to prove the youth did it.

RCMP found Erasmus's body on July 18, 2023, off a residential street in Behchokǫ̀. An autopsy determined Erasmus died from multiple stab wounds and internal hemorrhagic shock.

Speaking to CBC News after the verdict was delivered on Thursday, Crown prosecutor Blair McPherson said "it became clear that the Crown had not met its burden of proof."

The Crown "couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that the accused was the one responsible for Erasmus's death, he said.

During the investigation, police had seized two weapons: a golf club and a kitchen knife, found around 27 metres from Erasmus's body. Erasmus's DNA was found on both.

But the forensic report stated the accused's DNA was not found on either of the weapons and investigators were unable to recover any other identifiable fingerprints or DNA.

McPherson said therefore the Crown had to prove the charge through civilian witness testimonies.

Throughout the three-day trial, there were several witnesses and neighbours who told the court they had heard a loud altercation and commotion on that morning, but nobody could actually provide evidence that the accused killed Erasmus.

One witness, Donovan Eronchi, previously gave a statement to the RCMP that he saw the accused storming into the house where Eronchi was, yelling "where's the knife?" and then grabbing a kitchen knife and running outside.

But Eronchi recanted that on the witness stand in court.

Because of this, McPherson said the Crown could not admit his statement into evidence.

"Donovan Eronchi's evidence is what he said on the witness stand, not what was in his RCMP statement," McPherson said.

Defence counsel Evan McIntyre had said that the evidence against his client was circumstantial.

McPherson said after the acquittal that the Crown is sympathetic to the victim's family.

"Our thoughts are with the Erasmus family. This is a very difficult time for them, and we are thinking about them," McPherson said.

Erasmus's mother, Charlene Erasmus told CBC News she was very "upset" after the verdict, but declined to comment further.