Warning: This story contains details of alleged violence that may be distressing to some readers.
A jury trial formally began on Tuesday for a former Yellowknife city councillor facing 14 criminal charges in NWT Supreme Court.
Robin Williams is accused of a range of violent offences including assault, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault, mischief, choking and uttering a threat to cause death against the same woman between 2014 and 2022.
Information that could identify the woman is protected by a publication ban.
Williams has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
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Jury members were selected ahead of the trial on Monday morning, while the start of the case was held behind closed doors on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
After 12 jury members were sworn in and Justice David Gates gave them detailed instructions, the woman began testifying on Tuesday afternoon.
She described several violent offences she alleged Williams had committed against her.
In four separate alleged incidents, she accused Williams of:
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- breaking one of her fingers;
- grabbing her by her hair and slamming her head against a window;
- bruising her arms and leaving marks on her face; and
- covering her nose and mouth with his hands and telling her he would kill her.
She also alleged Williams had sexually assaulted her while she was passed out, and that he later told two people he had “got a little rapey” with her.
“It was a violation of my body,” she said, adding she was “kind-of shocked” by Williams’ alleged remark.
The woman said she did not report any of the alleged incidents to police at the time they occurred as she was afraid, embarrassed and “did not want to make things worse.”
The woman is set to continue testifying when the trial resumes on Wednesday.
Crown prosecutor Brian Bencze told the jury he expects she will speak about further incidents of alleged violence.
Williams served as a city councillor for one term from 2018 to 2022 and did not seek re-election in Yellowknife’s October 2022 municipal election. He is currently the owner of an electronics store.
He was first charged in January 2023, while the number of charges increased in April 2023.
None of the charges against him have been proven in court. The trial is scheduled for a total of 10 days
