A youth charged with the second-degree murder of a 12-year-old Rankin Inlet boy has been found not guilty, a Nunavut judge told an Iqaluit courtroom Friday morning.

Evidence against the youth mostly relied on one witness’ testimony — in which the witness said the accused confessed the murder to him — and a DNA result that showed the accused’s DNA on the back of the victim’s pant leg.

Judge Susan Cooper found that the evidence was inconsistent and, ultimately, not enough to prove the youth’s guilt.

“While some of the evidence is very concerning, it is not sufficiently persuasive to meet the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Cooper said. “I find the accused not guilty.”

The youth, dressed in a teal t-shirt, black joggers and without shoes, stepped into the gallery and hugged a woman who, while crying, said, “Oh, my son … I love you.”

The identity of the accused is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The court has also imposed a ban on identifying the young victim and the witness.

The victim’s body was discovered July 7, 2017, by community members on a search and rescue mission, after the boy had been missing for days.

On Oct. 12, 2018, RCMP charged the youth with second-degree murder and he has been in custody ever since.

In her 25-minute decision, Cooper outlined the problem areas in the Crown’s argument, mainly the inconsistencies in the testimony of the key witness.

A youth took the witness stand during the trial on Sept. 12 and told the courtroom that the accused had confessed to him at a party.

The reliability of the confession was undermined because the witness admitted to being drunk and high at the time of the confession and gave conflicting information that he heard from members of the public, Cooper said.

For example, the witness testified that the accused told him he had wrapped the victim’s body up. But Cooper said the body wasn’t wrapped up when it was discovered — that detail was a rumour being spread around town.

“In other circumstances, these mistakes might be of little concern. However, the concerns are heightened when the confession is the most compelling evidence against the accused,” Cooper said.

Yet there were some consistencies between the witness testimony and forensic details, such as the fact that the victim had been hit with a blunt object multiple times first before being stabbed.

Cooper also took note of the fact no DNA found on the handle of the knife, which she said aligns with the witness testifying that the accused told him, “All you need is a knife and gloves,” to commit murder.

Of the DNA sample that was found on the accused’s pants, Cooper said there are other ways the accused could have gotten his DNA on the victim’s clothes.

Police also charged Glen Kadlak Jr. in October 2018, but those charges were dropped in September 2022.

David Venn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News