Loretta Saunders was murdered February 2014. Her body was found near Salisbury, New Brunswick. The motive was unclear at the time, but within a month, Blake Leggette and Victoria Henneberry were arrested and charged with the crime.
Victoria Henneberry, 28, and Blake Leggette, 25, arrive at Halifax provincial court. Photo courtesy of CBC.ca.
Loretta Saunders had been leasing an apartment to Leggette and his girlfriend. Saunders went to pick up the rent cheque and was strangled by Leggette, who also stole her car and credit cards. Leggette did not have the rent money and had planned the murder with Victoria Henneberry.
The police had enough proof to send both Leggette and Henneberry to jail for life. The confession was not a surprise; it came as a result of handwritten description of the murder found in Leggette’s jail cell. Leggette stated it was for his lawyer, but Darcy Kory, who was sharing the same cell with Leggette, testified that Leggette’s notes were meant for a book he was writing. There is also mention in the manuscript of a book deal for Leggette, who had intended to place most of the blame on his girlfriend.
The accused will be sentenced on April 28th. It is doubtful the confession will change the sentence—premeditated murder is a life sentence. The question that begs to be asked is why murder someone over rent money? Did the fact that Loretta was Native enter the equation or were Leggette and his girlfriend mentally challenged? Murdering your landlord as a solution seems more than extreme.
During the trial, Loretta Saunders’ uncle tried to attack the defendants but was restrained by police. Loretta’s mother Miriam remained stoic, even though a year passed since her daughter’s body was found. She told CBC, “They don’t know what I’m like every morning and every night. When they took my daughter, they took a big piece of my heart.”
