Nunatsiavut woman’s killers plead guilty to murder

Loretta Saunders killers will be sentenced for first- and second-degree murder next week in Halifax, N.S. (FILE PHOTO)

Two people charged in the death of Nunatsiavut Inuk Lorretta Saunders pleaded guilty to her murder in Nova Scotia Supreme Court April 22, according to the Canadian Press.

Blake Leggette pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

Victoria Henneberry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which also carries a life sentence and a period of no parole eligibility of at least 10 years.

According to CP, an agreed statement of facts was presented in court that explained the series of events leading to the death of Saunders, 26.

The two accused had been subletting Saunders’ apartment and when she came to collect the rent on Feb. 13, 2014, they couldn’t pay.

Leggette tried to choke and suffocate her and eventually hit her head on the floor twice, after which she stopped moving.

Media reports say they placed her body in a hockey bag, put it in the trunk and drove from Halifax, N.S., to Salisbury, N.B., where they dumped the body off the highway.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for next week, CP reported.

Saunders had been missing for about two weeks before her body was found. Ironically, she was a student at Saint Mary’s University, where she focused her work on the plight of murdered and missing women in Canada.

Her cousin, Holly Jarrett, took up Saunders’ cause by starting a petition calling for a national inquiry and the “Am I next?” online campaign to raise awareness about how Aboriginal women in Canada live on the margins, socially, politically and financially.