Emotional testimony at teen’s sentencing hearing
REGINA — A youth who stabbed his former girlfriend to death with a hunting knife told a friend months earlier that he wanted to become a serial killer and do away with his ex.
Hannah Leflar was stabbed multiple times in her Regina home in January 2015 when she and her killer were both 16.
A girl who became friends with the youth after he broke up with Leflar told his sentencing hearing that she and the boy exchanged Facebook messages in September 2014. She said the two of them joked about his comments.
The girl, whose name is protected under a publication ban, tearfully testified that she never meant any of it and would never have hurt anyone.
The Crown is seeking an adult sentence for the youth, now 19, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder earlier this year.
In a late-night exchange, the youth expressed wanting to hurt Leflar “because I love her” and then wanting to kill her.
“She wouldn’t be safe around me.”
The friend said: “Want me to find her and beat her up?”
The friend told court Friday she didn’t mean it. “I was 16 and talking smack.”
She made a remark to the youth about “smashing Leflar’s face into the pavement,” to which he replied he would like to see that. He messaged that Leflar always talked about being born with perfect teeth and he would want to see her coming to school with teeth missing.
But when expressing that he would want to “throw a shovel, then she would die,” the friend replied: “That’s too far.”
The youth sat stone-faced throughout most of the testimony. The family of Leflar let out sighs and occasionally cried.
The defence played portions of a video interview done by the Regina Police Service. She told investigators that most of her conversation with the teen happened in person, contradicting her statement on the stand that they hung out only occasionally.
An agreed statement of facts made public this week said the youth stalked Leflar for months after she broke up with him and hatched a plan to attack her and a new boyfriend with bats and knives.
That didn’t happen, largely because Leflar broke up with that boy, but when she posted about her latest relationship on Facebook, her old boyfriend murdered her.
The sentencing hearing has already been told that the youth has psychopathic tendencies, has not taken part in programming available to him and has anger management issues.
A second teenage boy, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, is expected to be sentenced in September.
(CJME, CTV Regina)
The Canadian Press