Alaska News

Caribou-killing trial is moved to February

KOTZEBUE -- The trial of the men accused of wasting caribou during a hunt near Point Hope, scheduled to begin this month, has been pushed back, according to court records.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson last week filed an unopposed motion to delay the trial until February because of a medical matter that presents a scheduling conflict. At a hearing this week, a Kotzebue judge granted the request.

Eight men have been charged with wanton waste, failure to salvage edible meat, or both after troopers say they found at least 37 caribou rotting on the tundra outside Point Hope in the summer of 2008.

One of them, Randy John Oktollik, 26, is set to change his plea at a hearing next week, according to court records. An attorney for another of the accused, Lazarus C. Killigvuk, 26, has indicated Killigvuk is also considering a change of plea.

The others will face a jury in Point Hope. The new trial date will be set at a status hearing next week.

Anchorage Daily News

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