Former sex worker testifies about strange encounter with killer

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The jury heard this week at Ibey’s first-degree murder trial that he spent eight hours searching for local sex workers online before killing and allegedly sexually assaulting his new roommate, Nikolas Ibey.

Following Ibey’s arrest on Sept. 11, 2022, Ottawa police extracted data from his cell phone detailing an extensive “escort” search that began around 7 p.m. the previous evening and continued until 3 a.m.

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At 9 a.m., after a six-hour break, Ibey’s Google search terms changed to: “How much prison time is there for murder?”

Ibey, 35, admitted to killing Savanna Pikuyak, 22, who had just moved into the apartment at 34C Woodvale Green after leaving her home in Nunavut to study nursing at Algonquin College.

Represented by defense lawyers Ewan Lyttle and Maggie McCann, Ibey pleaded guilty to second-degree murder at the beginning of his trial on November 12, but that plea was rejected by the Crown. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Crown attorneys Michael Purcell and Sonia Beauchamp presented the jury with a wealth of evidence from laptops and cellphones seized at the scene, including Ibey’s Samsung Galaxy phone.

During that eight-hour period, Ibey conducted 167 searches for nine different keywords, made 800 visits to 160 different sex websites and participated in 53 “sex chat” conversations, and exchanged 965 messages with sex workers that night, according to testimony from Ottawa Police. Service crime intelligence analyst Alyson Yaraskovitch.

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That night, he contacted several sex workers, sent e-transfers as deposits for several unsuccessful trysts, and purchased the services of a sex worker who arrived at his apartment around 1 a.m.

The woman, whose identity was withheld due to a publication ban, testified about the strange encounter on Friday, saying Ibey, who was sitting completely naked on his bed in the downstairs apartment, was unable to maintain an erection and called off the engagement soon after.

According to the woman’s statement, he paid the full amount and sent it to her home, but Ibey later complained in a text message that he only had to pay her half that amount for the minimum half-hour appointment.

“He was really embarrassed about it,” the woman testified. “He said he couldn’t get an erection because of the medication. “He said he didn’t think it would happen and told me I could go.”

The woman, who noticed about six lines of cocaine in Ibey’s dresser, said he had been drinking beer and snorting cocaine during the 15 minutes he was there.

Throughout the woman’s testimony, Ibey sat hunched over in the prisoner’s box, occasionally resting his forehead in his hands. He told the court the woman was no longer working in the sex trade.

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According to the Crown’s timeline of text messages and search history, Ibey had contacted other sex workers before and after that night’s failed rendezvous.

At around 10:30pm on September 10, she sent a deposit to another sex worker, but was told she was accepting “calls only tonight”.

Ibey complained that he was “too drunk” to go home and texted: “Thanks for pushing me.”

Around 2 a.m., she sent another e-transfer deposit to a different sex worker, which left Ibey frustrated as she demanded more money up front and then cut off communication.

Superior Court Judge Robert Maranger cautioned the jury about the graphic, X-rated language in the evidence and cautioned against inferring that Ibey’s behavior “might be considered evidence of discreditable conduct or ‘bad character'” against him.

“The evidence is presented for the specific purpose of demonstrating the defendant’s state of mind leading to the death of Savanna Pikuyak and as evidence of a possible motive put forward by the Crown,” Maranger said.

“It cannot be used as evidence that (Ibey) is more likely to have committed the crime charged due to his behavior or that he is the type of person who will commit the crime because of this behavior.”

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After his last attempt to find a sex worker that night was rejected, Ibey turned his attention to pornographic sites, according to his search history. He ended his search for an escort at 02.59 at night.

According to the Crown’s theory of the case, Ibey sexually assaulted, beat and strangled Pikuyak between 3 and 9 a.m. on September 11.

At 9:03 a.m., he got on his phone again and searched for “the difference between first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter.”

He also looked at the Criminal Code of Canada and reviewed a 2016 Ottawa Citizen article and photo gallery titled “Take a tour of Ottawa’s notorious prison,” which profiled the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre.

At 9:35 a.m., he texted his father, James Ibey, to say “hello.” He then started looking again for information on “first-degree murder penalties.” He then searched for “Kingston Prison”.

He confessed to the murder with a message he sent to his father at 9.56 in the morning.

“I’m in a lot of trouble,” he wrote. “Last night I got into alcohol and drugs and killed my roommate.”

The trial continues.

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