Man pleads guilty in Iqaluit teen's murder

The man accused offirst-degree murder in the stabbing death of13-year-old Jennifer Naglingniq pleadedguiltyto second-degree murder in an Iqaluit courtroom Monday.

The trial of Mark King Jeffrey, 26, was to resume Monday morning in the Nunavut Court of Justice. But Jeffrey, dressed in a dark blue prison sweatshirt, entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge — confirming rumours that had been circulating in the community for the past week.

Jefferywill still face a minimum sentence of life in prison but will likely be able to apply for parole earlier than if he had been found guilty of first-degree murder.

Justice Earl Johnson will rule on parole eligibility on April 30. At that time, the statement of facts surrounding Naglingniq's murder will also be read into the record. The Grade 8 student was found stabbed to death in her home on Dec. 6,2002.

"We're very pleased in the public interest that Mr. Mark Jeffrey has entered a guilty plea of second degree murder," Crown prosecutor Susanne Boucher said. "It's an ensured conviction; a trial would have taken aboutthree months of court time."

Jeffrey had initially elected to be tried by jury but in early April decided to be tried by judge alone.

Crown lawyer John Solski saidthey agreed to the guilty plea on the lesser offence because it wouldsparethe victim'sfamily and community the grief of a trial.

"There's always concerns when you're running a trial of this nature, in terms of things like the effect the trial is going to have on the public," he said. "Especially on a community here in Nunavut:It's a little different than if it was in Metro Toronto or Ottawa or some place like that. So that certainly is a factor that the Crown considers when it's taking a position on matters like this."

Defence lawyers Susan Cooper and Michael Chandler declined to comment.

Jeffrey's trial began in September with the judge presiding over a series of voir dires, which are usually held in the absence of a jury to determine the admissibility of contested evidence.