Canada News
Sentencing hearing begins for killing of 16 year old Saskatchewan girl
REGINA – A police officer has testified that bloodied clothes, samurai swords, knives, pellet guns and a baseball bat with nails embedded in the end were all found in the bedroom of a teenager who pleaded guilty to killing a 16-year-old girl.
The sentencing hearing for the 19-year-old youth, who admitted to first-degree murder, began Monday in Regina.
The boy was 16 at the time of the killing but the Crown is arguing he should be sentenced as an adult.
Hannah Leflar was found stabbed to death in her home on Jan. 12, 2015.
Const. Garth Fleece of the Regina Police Service identification unit told court about the documentation of evidence from the accused teen’s home as well as the home where Leflar’s body was found by her stepfather.
The hearing was then set over until Friday after a witness scheduled for Monday told the Crown about undisclosed social media conversations.
Over the course of the next two weeks, Justice Jennifer Pritchard will hear evidence from a psychologist, psychiatrist and well as those working with the teen at the youth facility where he has remained in custody.
It will be the first glimpse into the mindset of the killer, as the agreed statement of facts has been sealed by the court.
If sentenced as an adult, the teen would be jailed for the mandatory life without parole eligibility for 25 years.
As a youth he would be out of jail sooner, possibly within a matter of months.
A second teen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder back in February. He will face an adult sentencing hearing later this year.