The man accused of killing an RCMP officer in Hay River, N.W.T., in October 2007 faces new charges linked to accusations he tried to influence potential witnesses.

Emrah Bulatci, 23, faces three counts of obstruction of justice on top of his first-degree murder charge, Yellowknife RCMP said Wednesday.

Emrah Bulatci, seen leaving the Yellowknife courthouse in January, had three obstruction charges laid against him on Wednesday, the RCMP says.
(CBC)

RCMP believe Bulatci, who is currently in police custody in Yellowknife, asked people on the outside to try and influence people who may know something about the shooting of Hay River Const. Chris Worden, who was killed on Oct. 6 while responding to a call in the community.

Following a countrywide search, Bulatci was arrested in Edmonton on Oct. 12 in connection to Worden's death. Police believe the alleged witness tampering took place between the time of his arrest and Dec. 6.

"The investigation does not end when the accused is arrested. Like, it continues virtually right up until the day of trial. New information comes to light, new leads come to light," Yellowknife RCMP Sgt. Larry O'Brien told CBC News on Wednesday afternoon.

"When the Crown gets a hold of the file, they start to have questions of things they need to prove in court, and so the investigation will continue right up to the day of trial on many circumstances, especially in major, major files such as this."

Because the case is still before the courts, RCMP said it can't give details about the way Bulatci may have tried to influence witnesses. O'Brien said he does not know whether the witnesses are being protected or not.

No one else has been charged in connection with Bulatci's alleged witness interference, O'Brien said, but he didn't rule that out in the future.

"That could happen right up to the day of trial. I'm not saying it will happen in this case, I'm saying it could happen," he said.

"Other crimes, you know, that have been committed and are not known to police could be uncovered as the investigation proceeds. So there could be other charges coming out later on, possibly."