WATCH (above): Victim impact statements were read today by the families of women murdered by serial killer Cody Legebokoff. Ted Chernecki has more.
Family members of the three women and one teenage girl murdered by convicted serial killer Cody Legebokoff presented their impact statements in a Prince George courtroom today.
Legebokoff sat impassively as 15 family members presented their impact statements, in many cases they were read out by the Crown.
Like Natasha Montgomery’s grandfather, Bob Donovan, who said, “I would like him to give up the body. It’s very hard on me and very hard on my daughter. I would love for him to give it up.”
Montgomery was reported missing on Sept. 23, 2010 and her body was never found.
For Doug Leslie, the father of 15-year-old Loren Donn Leslie, his statement said getting ready for his little girl’s funeral was the hardest thing he has ever had to do. Leslie was last seen Nov. 27, 2010 and her body was found later that day.
“There were parts I couldn’t read that’s why I had to have it read,” Doug said. “She was a unique kid, she was an awesome kid, and I’m not just saying that as a dad but as a reality.”
Leslie’s mother Donna told the court how losing her daughter has ruined her life.
“I’ve been in and out of detox, in and out of the pysch ward, in and out of jail, in and out of the hospital, which I’d never been before,” she told Global News.
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Michelle Mitchell, the teenage daughter of murder victim Jill Stacey Stuchenko, said in her statement to the court that although she is only 16 she suffers from major depression and anxiety and cries herself to sleep every night .
Stuchenko was reported missing on Oct. 22, 2009 and her body was found four days later in a gravel pit outside Prince George. She had suffered multiple blows to her face, head and arms.
Cynthia Francis Maas’ sister, Judy, told the court “every day I pray I will wake from this nightmare.” Mass, who died from blunt-force trauma to the head, was reported missing Sept. 23, 2010, and her body was found a few weeks later in a Prince George park.
“The message that we really wanted to deliver and hit home is that our family members despite their vulnerabilities and where they were in their life at that time, were human beings and loved,” Judy said.
Legebokoff, who is from Fort St. James, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, accused of killing the young women around Prince George within a 14-month span in 2009. He now joins the ranks of being one of Canada’s youngest serial killers.
READ MORE: Murder trial hears about Legebokoff’s arrest
“This isn’t the only example we’ve seen of a serial killer that comes from a good solid intact family background,” said SFU adjunct psychology professor Joti Samra.
“Ted Bundy for example is one of the strongest examples of an individual who didn’t have what we would expect to be the typical family environment that would contribute to this. And certainly that’s more evidence that speaks to the important role that genetic makeup can have when we’re trying to predict and understand these factors.”
Legebokoff sentencing has been delayed until Sept. 16 so the judge can thoroughly consider the families’ impact statements.
~ with files from Ted Chernecki
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