'Jasmine caught you': Prosecutor suggests motive for killing mother, toddler during cross-examination

"Someone tried to expose who I am and it ended bad."

That comment made by Robert Leeming to two undercover officers is at the centre of his motivation to murder a Calgary mother and toddler, prosecutor Doug Taylor suggested in his cross-examination of the accused Thursday.

On the first day of his trial, Robert Leeming, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, Jasmine Lovett, 25. 

But Leeming pleaded not guilty in the death of Lovett's 22-month-old daughter, Aliyah, telling the court she died after falling down the stairs. 

He said he killed Lovett — attacking her with a hammer and then shooting her in the head — when she began to question whether he was to blame for her daughter's injuries. 

'Jasmine caught you'

Leeming has been testifying in his own defence for two days in the Calgary courtroom. 

On Thursday, during cross-examination, Taylor suggested Leeming deleted text messages to and from Lovett after he killed both mother and daughter because "Jasmine caught you doing something."

That "something," Taylor suggested, was connected to injuries to Aliyah's genital area. 

The medical examiner testified those injuries were inflicted within 12 hours of her death.

"You didn't kill Jasmine because she was accusing you of doing something to Aliyah like a fall or something, she was accusing you of something even worse, right?" asked Taylor.

"No, she did not," Leeming replied.

"Maybe she even caught you doing it?" suggested Taylor.

"No, she did not," said Leeming.

Undercover operation

Two weeks after the deaths, police ran an undercover operation that lasted just five hours before Leeming led the two officers to the bodies he had buried in shallow graves in Kananaskis Country.

The whole time, he let them believe he had murdered both mother and daughter.

"You didn't once say, 'I didn't kill the kid, it was an accident,'" said Taylor. "You didn't tell them the story you told this court yesterday." 

"Did you think it was cool that they thought you murdered a child?"

"No," said Leeming. 

"Everyone thinks that's one of the worst things you can do, and you didn't once, not once, take the opportunity to tell these fellows it was an accident," said Taylor.

Injuries don't align with fall, prosecutor suggests

The prosecutor also pressed Leeming on other areas where he suggested the accused's testimony didn't make sense. 

The medical examiner testified that Aliyah died after she suffered three injuries to her head: one on the back and one on each side. 

Taylor suggested Leeming's testimony about a fall down the stairs didn't align with the medical evidence. 

Under questioning from defence lawyer Balfour Der, Leeming said he was taking care of Aliyah on April 16, 2019, when she fell down the stairs.

Hours later, after the toddler's mother had returned home, Leeming said he and Lovett  discovered Aliyah was unresponsive, around 9 p.m. 

'That was a lie'

Leeming said he didn't call 911 because he couldn't find his phone and later discovered it had been in his car.

But Taylor pointed out that cellphone data evidence showed Leeming and his new girlfriend messaged back and forth "almost continuously" until 9 p.m.

"That was a lie," suggested Taylor of Leeming's earlier testimony that his cellphone was in his car. 

"It was to the best of my memory," said Leeming.

After Leeming and Lovett found Aliyah unresponsive, she began to accuse him of harming the girl, prompting him to pick up a hammer and repeatedly hit her in the head, he testified. 

After the initial attack, Leeming said Lovett was on the ground, breathing heavily.

'You could have saved her'

Under cross-examination, Leeming agreed that Lovett was still alive at that point.

"You didn't call for help?" asked Taylor.

"Correct," said Leeming.

"For all you know, you could have saved her?" Taylor suggested.

"It's possible," said Leeming.

"But we'll never know because you shot her," said Taylor.

"Yes," said Leeming.