Convicted murderer Victoria Henneberry loses appeal

The woman convicted of the murder of Loretta Saunders had her appeal dismissed, meaning she faces life in prison and will have to wait for 10 years before she can apply for parole.

Victoria Hennebery, who negotiated a guilty plea to the charge of second-degree-murder instead of contesting a first-degree murder charge at trial, said that her plea was invalid due to her poor mental health and also that she is innocent.

She claimed to have new evidence that would prove her innocence.

READ MORE: Victoria Henneberry asks for court-appointed lawyer to handle murder conviction appeal

Justice Duncan Beveridge of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal was unequivocal in his 28-page decision to dismiss Henneberry’s appeal, which was released on Thursday.

“There is no credible evidence that the appellant lacked the requisite cognitive capacity to instruct counsel, enter into the Agreed Statement of Facts and plead guilty to second-degree murder,” he wrote.

The two other judges who heard the appeal, Justices Bourgeois and MacDonald concurred with the decision.

Beveridge adds that  Henneberry’s appeal did not establish that her plea was invalid. She did not claim her legal representation failed to represent her best interests or prove that she didn’t understand what she was doing when she pleaded guilty.

Although Henneberry claimed that she was stricken with panic attacks and was deprived of the anti-anxiety medication, clonazepam, before her trial, Beveridge wrote that the analysis of a forensic psychologist points to the contrary.

“Forensic psychological tests used in this evaluation showed robust and extreme attempts to present her mental health status as exceptionally disordered, dysfunctional and impaired,” Beveridge quotes in his decision.

WATCH: Emotions run high at Loretta Saunders murder sentencing

While Henneberry had claimed she received no treatment for her anxiety, medical records indicated that she had previously refused anti-anxiety medications when she was seen by medical professionals in March, May and August 2014.

“There is not a scintilla of evidence that the appellant was rushed, panicked, or suffered from any mental or physical disorder that impaired the voluntariness or understanding of her guilty plea,” wrote Beveridge.

“The choice to plead guilty was hers. It was conscious, voluntary and unequivocal.”

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The body of Saunders was found off the Trans-Canada Highway Route 2 west of Salisbury, N.B., in late February 2014, about two weeks after she was reported missing.

Henneberry and Blake Leggette, who has also been convicted in Saunders’ murder, were roommates of the 26-year-old student. The pair sublet a room and when they ran into financial problems and could not pay rent, they killed Saunders.

— With files from Jennifer Grudic