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Lead investigator testifies in Hay River murder trial

Court heard accused ran from and clutched Bible in custody
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Alex Norwegian, a Hay River resident, was found bloodied, beaten and frozen in his car late December 2017. Photo courtesy of the

Several officers, including Sgt. Eric Lane, went to the Hay River home of Levi Cayen to arrest him in January 2018.

Cayen took off on foot, leading the officers down a snowmobile trail for a few hundred metres.

The officers caught up with Cayen and apprehended him. HeSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s now being tried on first-degree murder in the death of Alex Norwegian, 25.

Norwegian was found bloodied and frozen in his car in late December 2017 near Hay River.

The court heard an audio recording shortly after CayenSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s arrest where the accused admitted to being scared and requesting a lawyer.

While testifying on Feb. 23, Lane, former head of the Major Crimes Unit for G Division, said he stepped out of the interview room and made numerous calls to locate an available lawyer for Cayen.

A video played for the court showed that in LaneSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s absence, Cayen grabbed a Bible from the desk and thumbed through it anxiously for half an hour, at times reading passages aloud.

Cayen spoke with a lawyer, then refused to be interviewed further by police. He spent the night in custody.

SEE: SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½˜Craving for crackSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™ murder trial details drug hunt in Hay River

The next day, officers interviewed Cayen for five hours.

Lane testified the circumstances that solidified Cayen as a suspect.

A friend of CayenSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s, co-accused James ThomasSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s girlfriend, called Lane and implicated Cayen and Thomas in NorwegianSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s death.

Thomas was arrested first. Police caught up wish Cayen two days later.

CayenSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s trial is expected to last another four weeks.





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