North

Most Yukon murders remain unsolved for 2017

Yukon saw eight homicides in 2017 which is far above average. So far only two of the cases have led to criminal charges.

8 people have been murdered in the territory this year, the most ever recorded by Statistics Canada

A crowd marched through the McIntyre subdivision of Whitehorse in April, expressing their grief over the murder of two women. The cases remain unsolved. (Philippe Morin/CBC)

The level of violence in Yukon has never been matched in records going back to 1961. 

Eight people have been murdered in Yukon this year.

The Yukon Bureau of Statistics, compiling from Statistics Canada, says the yearly average for homicides in the territory is just over two.

Nearly half the years since 1961 have seen either one person killed or none at all. 

CBC has compiled information about this year's cases and the progress of investigations.

One killing happened in Carmacks, one in Pelly Crossing but all the others happened within or close to Whitehorse.  

This year Yukon RCMP Superintendent Brian Jones said Yukon's police force has relied on outside help and called the workload for investigating crimes "unsustainable."

So far only two of the eight cases have led to criminal charges.  

Derek Edwards, a 37-year-old Indigenous man died in Pelly Crossing on Dec. 13. Yukon RCMP are investigating the case as a homicide. (submitted by Kim Gill)

Derek Edwards

Dec. 13

Status: Unsolved

RCMP have confirmed they are investigating the death of 37-year-old Derek Edwards as a homicide. He died in Pelly Crossing on Dec. 13.

No details have been released as to the cause or circumstances of the death.

An officer investigates a shooting in Porter Creek, Whitehorse on Sept. 20. Yukon has seen seven murders in 2017. The local RCMP has confirmed it is seeking extra funding from the territorial government. (Wayne Vallevand / CBC)

Mohamed Nagiel Saddek Nagem

Sept. 20

Status: Unsolved

Mohamed Nagiel Saddek Nagem, originally of Surrey, B.C., was shot while driving a vehicle in Whitehorse. The shooting occurred at the intersection of Wann Road and the Alaska Highway on the evening on Sept. 20.

A red pickup truck was reported to have fled the scene.

The victim died a day after the shooting in hospital. However a passenger in the vehicle survived.

Police have described the crime as "not random," but have provided no further information about the investigation which has not lead to charges.

Clayton Benoit was originally from the N.W.T. but had been living in Yukon. He was brought to Whitehorse General with fatal injuries and died on Aug. 30. (Philippe Morin/CBC)

Clayton Benoit 

Aug. 30

Status: Unsolved 

Fifty-one-year-old Clayton Benoit was brought to Whitehorse General Hospital with injuries on Aug. 30. He died later as a result of those injuries while in hospital. 

Police have released no information regarding the case, other than saying they consider the death a homicide. Benoit was originally from the N.W.T. but had been living in Whitehorse. 

Police tape is blocks off a turnoff at kilometre 1450 along the Alaska Highway, where the body of Adam Cormack was found. (Philippe Morin/CBC)

Adam Cormack

June 28

Status: Charges laid

The body of 25-year-old Adam Cormack was found outside Whitehorse this summer. It was beside a turnoff at kilometre 1450 along the Alaska Highway.

Police said "the incident was quickly deemed a homicide" when officers visited the scene.

Yukon RCMP have charged a B.C man, Edward James Penner, 20, with first degree murder in the death. The case is making its way through the courts.

An officer from Carmacks RCMP is shown patrolling the Yukon River. The case of Wildred Dickie Charlie was considered a missing persons case until the autopsy. Two men have since been charged with first-degree murder. (Yukon RCMP)


Wilfred Dickie Charlie

June 19

Status: Charges laid

Wilfred Dickie Charlie was reported missing in Carmacks in June. 

People in the community searched far and wide, as police helicopters and dogs were called in. 

Charlie's body was eventually found in the Yukon River near Fort Selkirk on July 5. Police deemed his death a homicide after an autopsy. 

Two men from Carmacks have been charged with first-degree murder. 

Tyler Aaron Skookum, 27, was initially charged with second-degree murder but this was later upgraded to first-degree. 

Mario Rueben Skookum, 25, is also charged with first-degree murder. 

The case is still making its way through the courts and both men are in custody. 

Sarah McIntosh and Wendy Carlick of Whitehorse. (Kwanlin Dun First Nation/CBC)


Wendy Carlick and Sarah MacIntosh

April 19

Status: Unsolved

Sarah MacIntosh and Wendy Carlick were identified by Whitehorse RCMP as victims of homicide in April. 

The two Indigenous women were found dead in the same house in Whitehorse's McIntyre subdivision on April 19. 

Wendy Margaret Carlick, 51, and Sarah MacIntosh, 53, were mourned in a community march that gathered hundreds of people.

Carlick's portrait has since been added to a mural in Whitehorse, depicting her and her daughter Angel, who was killed in Whitehorse 10 years earlier. 

Angel Carlick's death also remains unsolved.
 

Greg Dawson died in Whitehorse in April 2017. RCMP have called his death 'suspicious.' (Ta'an Kwach'an Council)


Greg Alvin Dawson

April 6

Status: Unsolved

Greg Alvin Dawson, 45, was found dead on April 6 in the Riverdale neighbourhood of Whitehorse. 

He was a member of the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council, grew up in Whitehorse and lived in Vancouver. 

A copy of the eulogy read at his service, provided by The Ta'an Kwäch'än Council, says he "grew up in the old Kwanlin Dün Village, in a time and place where your children could run freely all day and you didn't need to worry about them, because you could rest assured that a close family member who lived nearby were always looking out for them."

Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis said he'd known Dawson for 35 years.

Police say they're treating the death as a homicide. They do not believe it is connected to the murder of Sarah MacIntosh and Wendy Carlick, which occurred in Whitehorse the same month.