A preliminary hearing gets underway Monday for Robert Leeming, charged with killing a young Calgary mother and her toddler daughter.
Leeming, 34, was charged on May 7, 2019, with two counts of second-degree murder after investigators found the bodies of 25-year-old Jasmine Lovett and her 22-month-old daughter Aliyah Sanderson in Kananaskis Country.
The mother and daughter had been reported missing by their family in April after they didn’t turn up for a dinner. What followed was a days-long search in Calgary, the Bragg Creek area and across rugged terrain in the Rocky Mountains.
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Investigators believe the pair was killed sometime between April 16 and 17.
Evidence presented in the preliminary inquiry is under a publication ban and can’t be reported. At the end of the hearing, the judge will determine whether there’s enough evidence to order Leeming to stand trial.
Leeming is not a Canadian citizen, telling Global News in April he was from England and has permanent resident status, which means if he were convicted of the crimes, he could be deported back to the U.K. after serving his time in Canada.