Jury finds Levi Cayen guilty of manslaughter, not first-degree murder

After nearly two days of deliberating at the Yellowknife courthouse, a jury has found Levi Cayen not guilty of first-degree murder and instead found him guilty of manslaughter.

Cayen was on trial for the murder of Alex Norwegian, a 25-year-old Hay River man who was killed in 2017.

The 12 jurors announced the decision at the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories on Saturday at around 5:30 p.m. MT. They had been deliberating since Friday afternoon.  

Members of Cayen's family teared up and hugged one another when court adjourned. Across the aisle were Norwegian's family and friends, who stared straight ahead throughout the proceedings.

Justice Shannon Smallwood thanked the jury for completing their civic duty after the verdict was read. 

"I know this experience can be traumatic for some people but I want to thank you for your deliberations," she said.

Smallwood also acknowledged some strange circumstances in the trial, including several delays due to car fires in the courthouse parking lot. 

"We've had some disruptions along the way," she said.

Cayen's sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on May 26. 

The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment, but the typical sentence ranges from four to seven years.

Cayen was the last to be tried of the the four people charged in the incident: Sasha Cayen pleaded guilty to manslaughter and robbery; Tyler Cayen pleaded guilty to being an accessory to manslaughter; and James Thomas was convicted of 2nd-degree murder and robbery. 

The question in the trial was whether Levi Cayen's actions were responsible for Norwegian's death. 

In his closing statements on March 9, Crown prosecutor Duane Praught said that, in the early morning of Dec. 27, 2017, Levi Cayen and Thomas planned to rob Norwegian on a remote road on the K'atl'odeeche First Nation.

He said they brought weapons and were "ready for violence". When they arrived at the road — known as the Portage — Levi Cayen and Thomas smashed in the windows of Norwegian's black Mazda and badly beat him, Praught said.