LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. – A man charged with a triple murder has a history of being a street gang member and committing violence-related offences, according to parole documents.
On Jan. 18, Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit charged Nakota Rayne Pooyak, 31, from Sweetgrass First Nation with three counts of second-degree murder.
Brent Peters, 66, and his sons Matthew, 32, and Brennan, 34, were found dead inside their Lloydminster, Sask., home on Sept. 11, 2024.
Lloydminster, Alta., RCMP say officers were called at about 5:51 p.m. on that day to a home in the area of 50 Street and 47 Avenue for a well-being check. When police entered, they found three people shot to death.
Pooyak was arrested at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre where he was in custody since September 2024 on other unrelated charges.
In February 2023, Highway 16 near Waseca, between Lloydminster and North Battleford, was shut down during a six-hour police standoff with Pooyak. At the time, Pooyak was wanted by Correctional Service Canada on a Canada-wide warrant for violating parole conditions.
Parole documents reveal that a judge had previously warned Pooyak, “You can either grow up and become an adult or you can keep doing this kind of thing and then you’re going to run the risk at having the Crown look to applying for dangerous offender status for you at some point in time in your future.”
He has a history of associating with negative peers, gang members and those involved in substance use, according to parole documents.
“Your associations with negative peers has led to ongoing difficulties when on release in the community as you continue making poor decisions. A return to associating with negative peers will indicate that you could have returned to criminal activity.”
The parole documents also show that Pooyak has an “extensive criminal history” that began at a young age. He has had numerous convictions for weapon-related offences, assaults with and without weapons, robberies, forcible confinement, intimidation, uttering threats, drug possession, fraud, and flight from police.
Factors that have contributed to Pooyak’s cycle of criminal offences include family fragmentation, associates, and a cultural disconnection, say parole documents.
Pooyak’s family members attended residential school. He was born to a young mother and was raised by her and extended family members. He began using alcohol and drugs and associating with negative peers in his teens. Pooyak joined a street gang in his 20s but claimed he had left the gang while incarcerated in a provincial jail.
He was identified as needing high levels of intervention due to his attitude, the people he associated with, and his substance abuse.
Pooyak made his first appearance in Lloydminster Provincial Court on Jan. 20. He was remanded in custody and is now scheduled to appear next on Feb. 20 to enter an election.
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