Judge hears about jealousy, suspicion in murder trial of Fort Good Hope man

The judge overseeing a murder trial in Yellowknife heard that love, infidelity and jealousy may have led to the killing of a man from Fort Good Hope, N.W.T.

Colten McNeely, 26, is accused of stabbing 28-year-old Lloyd Edgi to death in Fort Good Hope on Sept. 3, 2017. McNeely is charged with second-degree murder.

On Tuesday a witness testified that just hours before Edgi died he was enraged after hearing his common-law spouse had left a party with McNeely that night.

Earlier on Tuesday, in a statement of agreed facts, the prosecutor revealed that Edgi's spouse, Jeanette Kakfwi, had an affair with McNeely during the summer of 2016.

Things were not going well between Edgi and Kakfwi the day before he was killed, the territory's Supreme Courtheard on day two of the trial. The prosecutor read out dozens of text messages they exchanged. He was at home taking care of their two children. She was out drinking with friends.

Edgi asked her where she was and accused her of cheating on him, saying she had not been home the night before. She assured him she was with friends and eventually said she would be coming home soon. Edgi said he was breaking up with her, that the relationship was over. The text fight ended just before 1 a.m. with Kakfwi apologizing to Edgi and saying she loved him.

The RCMP also extracted texts from McNeely's phone. The same day she was bickering with her spouse, Kakfwi was texting McNeely. She asked him what he was doing, if he would take her for a boat ride and if he missed her. McNeely was not that encouraging in his responses.

Kakfwi eventually asked if she could buy some alcohol from him. McNeely agreed to sell her some. He later texted that he had sold two mickeys to Edgi earlier.

Spouse in fear

Kakfwi testified that when she and three friends arrived to buy the alcohol, there was a small drinking party going on at a shack McNeely had behind his grandfather Winston McNeely's house. Kakfwi testified she and McNeely went into the grandfather's house to get water.

She said, just as she was about to leave the back door to go back to the shack, she heard Edgi yelling out in anger.

Kakfwi said she was fearful. She said she left through the front door of the house and went to a friend's house. During cross-examination, she agreed she had planned to meet up with McNeely with a friend later.

"I forgot about it," said Kakfwi. "I didn't know what was going on and I just ended up drinking and smoking weed and passing out."

Another witness who was driving around town drinking with Edgi looking for a party that night said they noticed light coming from the doorway of McNeely's shack when someone opened it as they were driving by. They pulled in.

Janelle Pierrot said Edgi asked people in the shack if they had seen Kakfwi. One person said she had left with McNeely. Pierrot said Edgi flew into a rage, picked up a snowmobile chassis like he was going to throw it, and then started pushing people around.

Pierrot said at that point everybody left the party except Edgi and two women. She said she did not see McNeely before leaving.

Shortly afterward Edgi was found stabbed to death at another house about 60 metres away.