Skylar Prockner, the young man convicted of murdering 16-year-old Hannah Leflar, has been sentenced as an adult in her death.
Because he was sentenced as an adult, the publication ban on his name has been lifted.
A two-week hearing was held back in May for the young girl’s killer who pleaded guilty to first degree murder last year. He was 16 at the time of the murder.
Leflar was found stabbed to death in her home in January 2015.
On Wednesday, Justice Jennifer Pritchard sentenced the man to life imprisonment, with parole eligibility set at 10 years. Prockner’s sentence will start after his arrest on Jan. 13, 2015.
In court, she summarized her 45-page written statement about her decision.
In it, Pritchard detailed how Prockner stalked Leflar for months, planned to kill her boyfriend at the time, plus created a dummy account to follow her on Facebook.
Project Zombify was a plan to kill the current boyfriend at the time, and Leflar would have been “collateral damage” if she got in the way. That plan fell through when they broke up.
A few months later, Prockner saw a photo of Leflar with a new boyfriend on Facebook. Fuelled by anger and jealousy, it was then he planned to kill Leflar, court heard.
Pritchard called him the “sole architecture” of the attack. She described multiple stab wounds Leflar suffered as a result.
“This was a brutal, sustained attack,” Pritchard said.
Prockner invaded the “safety and sanctity of her home, she added.
She said Prockner’s actions were not that of a “despondent adolescent”, and there was perseverance and effort involved in the plot to kill Leflar, as well as her murder.
Throughout the two week sentencing hearing, court heard from defence witness psychologist Dr. Terry Nicholaichuk. He testified the young man was depressed, and there was a presence of borderline personality disorder.
The psychologist also spoke about Prockner’s lack of maturity, saying “I wouldn’t take him for a 19-year-old”. The defence argued that depression should be considered mitigating factor.
They also argued he showed remorse, and should be sentenced as a youth.
That testimony is at odds with a Crown witness, psychiatrist Dr. Brent Harold, who testified the young man “didn’t show any remorse” and was “unable to demonstrate empathy”.
On Wednesday, Pritchard referenced the two contrasting doctors’ opinion. She did not believe Prockner was depressed.
“Depression drains a person. It does not rev them up to commit murder,” she said.
Pritchard also agreed with Harold’s view that Prockner would require extensive psychological intervention and rehabilitation over a “lengthy period of time” and it may not be successful.
Before he was escorted out of court, Pritchard addressed Prockner telling him that “no one wants you to die”.
“Suicide is a permanent answer to a temporary situation,” she said.
There were previous reports that Prockner had threatened suicide if he was given an adult sentence.
Prockner’s family stormed out of court, shouting “we love you Skylar. Unfair sentence” as they left.
On the steps of the courthouse, Leflar’s mother, Janet said the family was relieved to hear the sentence.
”We can finally say Skylar Prockner murdered my daughter. Which is a big, big victory for us,” Janet said.
“But there’s really no winners today. No one won anything. She’s still gone. So it’s a hollow victory but it’s a victory,” she said.
Crown prosecutor Chris White said it was “good news” Pritchard ruled in favour of an adult sentence.
“It seemed as though she saw through some of things I hoped she’d see through. Certainly, the comments of Dr. Nicholaichuk being chief among them, where he opined that the crime was unsophisticated and Mr. Prockner was immature… I’m happy she saw it the way we did.”
“All along Mr. Prockner hadn’t expressed any remorse in my dealings with this case all throughout and I think that was echoed by Dr. Harold.”
A second teen who also pleaded guilty to second degree murder awaits his sentencing in September.
The Crown will seek an adult sentence for that youth as well.
Below is the complete ruling for Skylar Prockner.
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