Preliminary hearing into Loretta Saunders’ murder continues

HALIFAX —
The preliminary hearing into the murder of Loretta Saunders continued Tuesday in Halifax Provincial Court.
Blake Leggette, 26, and his girlfriend, Victoria Henneberry, 28, are both charged with first-degree murder in Saunders’ death.

Saunders was an Inuit woman from Labrador who had been living in Halifax and was a student at Saint
Mary’s University. The 26-year-old had recently completed a thesis on missing and murdered aboriginal women.
Police say she was pregnant the time of her death.

Saunders disappeared from her Cowie Hill apartment in February 2014. Her remains were found off a New Brunswick highway nearly two weeks later.

Judge Ann Derrick issued a publication ban on evidence presented at the hearing.

Tuesday, everyone was ordered from the courtroom for a voir dire, otherwise known as a trial within a trial, where lawyers discussed admissibility of evidence in the case.

Monday was the opening day of the preliminary hearing. The couple sat on a bench at the front of the courtroom, separated by sheriffs. Many members of Saunders’ family were in the gallery, some even donned t-shirts with her picture on them.

Four days have been set aside for the preliminary hearing.
The crown says it plans to call 15 witnesses. They say if the case does make it to trial, it likely wouldn’t take place until late 2015.