Second car fire at Yellowknife courthouse cuts Levi Cayen trial short again

Court was suspended in Yellowknife Monday due to a car fire that began around 1:30 p.m. in the covered parkade. This wasthe second vehicle to catch fire in the same area in the past two weeks.

In a news release, RCMP said officers on patrol spotted the fire and called the fire department, who put it out. The fire was not considered suspicious, the release said.

Both fires interrupted the trial of Levi Cayen, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Alex Norwegian in Hay River in December of 2017. Cayen's trial began Feb. 9 in the N.W.T. Supreme Court and is set to run through March 11.

On Monday morning, jurors heard from Adam Desrosiers, who testified via video from Hay River. He confirmed he had sold crack cocaine to Norwegian on Boxing Day of 2017. Norwegian was found dead in his car two days later.

"He brought his guitar, we were chilling," Desrosiers told Crown prosecutor Duane Praught, confirming that he believed Norwegian was high at the time on cocaine and marijuana.

On the other hand, Desrosiers said he had never met Cayen.

"If you put a picture up, I wouldn't know who it is," he told the court.

The morning's questioning concluded with the prosecutor presenting Desrosiers with a string of text messages from December 23 and 26 of 2017, including texts Desrosiers sent to Norwegian.

Desrosier said he could not recall details of the evening.

"[At that time] my door was a swinging door, people coming in and out constantly," he said.

"It's a long time now, I've been trying to put that all past me now."

The trial will resume Tuesday.