Charlotte Lafferty's murderer must return to Fort Good Hope for sentencing

A Yellowknife judge ruled Tuesday that a man convicted of first-degree murder will have to return to his home community of Fort Good Hope for at least part of his sentencing hearing.

The man was 17 years old at the time he murdered CharlotteLafferty, a young mother of three. As a result, he cannot be identified.

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Lafferty's partially clothed, lifeless body was found in the snow behind the Fort Good Hope seniors complex on March 22, 2014. She was beaten beyond recognition.

The convicted man's lawyer, Charles Davison, told Justice Louise Charbonneau the man does not want to return to the community. The man, who is now 20, is fearful of his safety because of the nature of the crime.

"He's probably a fairly hated or despised person in Fort Good Hope and doesn't relish the prospect of going back," Davison said.

The prosecutor submitted an RCMP report rating the risk to the man's safety as low. But Davison said it does not take into account long-range threats that could be present in a community where rifles and hunting are commonplace.

Davison had suggested a number of alternatives to the man travelling back,including having victim impact statements videotaped and played at a sentencing hearing in Yellowknife, and having the man participate in a hearing in Fort Good Hope via video link or telephone from Yellowknife.

Charbonneau said that would be inappropriate, adding that while the sentencing hearing is very much about the convicted man, it's also about the people affected by his crime. The judge said she can't think of a case where it's more important for the court to travel to a community.

The murder shocked Fort Good Hope, and atrauma team of grief counsellors was sent in following Lafferty's deathto work withcommunity members. A vigil was held in Lafferty's memory afterward.

In court on Tuesday, Davison said the convicted man's mother told him that tensions are still running high between her family and the family of the victim.

Charbonneau agreed with the prosecutor, who said it's important for the man, in terms of taking responsibility for his crime, to see and hear from people victimized by it.

The ruling applies only to part of the sentencing hearing,where victims read out statements detailing how Lafferty's murder has affected them.

It's the first time the court has travelled to Fort Good Hope for this case. Both the preliminary inquiry and the jury trial were held in Yellowknife.

The Crown has applied to have the man sentenced as an adult. That hearing will likely be held in Yellowknife. The prosecutor is not asking for it to be held in Fort Good Hope.

Because it will take four or five days, Charbonneau said, that hearingwould be challenging to hold in the communityin terms of security and finding accommodations for the court party and witnesses.

According to Davison, after the court appearance on Tuesday, the man was scheduled to be moved from the young offenders facility in Yellowknife to the North Slave Correctional Centre, an adult jail.

The court is scheduled to travel to Fort Good Hope to hear victim impact statements in mid-September.