Kinngait man will serve two more years for attempted murder

Editor’s note: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing. A Kinngait man was sentenced to eight years in prison for attempted murder, but he will serve two more years when counting time already spent incarcerated. Laimiki Toonoo was found guilty in the Nunavut Court of Justice of attempted murder and aggravated assault on Oct. 27, and sentenced on Dec. 1. Justice Christian Lyons ruled that Toonoo’s sentence would be eight years in jail, but gave him six years credit for time served. Toonoo has served four years in jail, but is getting credit for six years because his time in jail was “enhanced pre-sentence custody,” Lyons stated. The judge noted that a sentence for Toonoo’s crime would normally be 10 to 12 years. However because of the offender’s post-traumatic stress disorder issues and schizophrenia, Toonoo’s sentencing was reduced. “I would have imposed a sentence of 10 years if it was not for the mitigating factors of Laimiki’s major mental illness,” Lyons said. Toonoo will be on probation for three years after he’s released from jail. Mitigating factors for Toonoo’s sentencing largely revolved around his health and childhood. Those included suffering from auditory and visual hallucinations since he was young and visiting Selkirk Mental Health Centre in Manitoba, where he was diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder and cognitive impairment. In 2021, while in jail, Toonoo broke his hand punching another inmate while suffering a hallucination, according to his sentencing document. As a child, Toonoo suffered significant sexual and physical abuse, and one of his abusers was a teacher. His father died when he was eight-years-old. This court case revolved around Toonoo’s attempt to murder a woman in his home in 2021 by choking her from behind. When he attempted to tie a USB charger to a scarf and hang her, the scarf broke and the woman survived. She still had the USB charger around her neck when she arrived at the police station to report the crime.