‘She was a good person,’ says sister of Inuk woman whose body was found in Montreal apartment in 2023

Louisa Sakiagak had long been avoiding speaking with media following the death of her sister, Alasie Tukkiapik. Sakiagak didn’t want to take attention away from what happened, and she was concerned she’d get swept up in her anger. 

Originally from Kangiqsujuaq, in Nunavik, Tukkiapik disappeared for many months in 2023 before finally being found dead in the apartment of brothers Francesco and Nicodemo Sansalone. 

In April, the brothers pleaded guilty to one count of indignity to a corpse and admitted to keeping Tukkiapik’s body on their couch for six months. Francesco has said he'd had a relationship with Tukkiapik.

The brothers are expected to be sentenced on Feb. 16. They face a maximum sentence of five years.

Sakiagak says she's already feeling like whatever the judge decides won’t be enough. However, speaking with Radio-Canada’s Espaces Autochtones, she said she finally feels like she can start grieving the loss of her sister. 

“I have to accept what's coming,” she said. “Do I agree with it? No. For the last two years I've had to come to accept the terms of the sentencing. [...] I'm not happy with it.

"Would you be happy if that was your mother? Would you be happy with the result if that was your sister, your cousin?”

On Oct. 7, the Quebec Coroner published a report ruling out third-party involvement in Tukkiapik’s death, and said the cause of death remains unknown. 

As a child, Sakiagak was adopted by her great-grandparents, who were Tukkiapik’s parents. 

“We were close growing up,” says Sakiagak. “I mean she wasn't obviously my blood sister, but she was my big sister ... I was the younger one, where I just followed her around and she didn't like it,” she laughed. 

She especially remembers Tukkiapik’s “gorgeous” long hair that went “probably below her knees,” when they were growing up. 

Later, though, Sakiagak says her older sister had some struggles. 

“My sister had it tough,” she said. “She moved away and she had bullies like we all do. And unfortunately, it was so bad that for her, coming back home was not something I find that she wanted to do.”

Despite the distance that separated them, Sakiagak says her older sister never fully lost touch.