Hannah Leflar's teenage killer driven by jealousy, court document reveals
Court document lays out how jealous teenage boy fantasized about revenge
For the first time, details of how a teenage boy plotted and executed the gruesome murder of 16-year-old Hannah Leflar have been made public.
A sentencing hearing is underway this week to determine whether the killer, who was 16 at the time, should be given an adult sentence.
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Both the defence and the Crown agreed on some basic facts of the case. Those facts were recently released, with some identifying information redacted, at Regina's Court of Queen's Bench.
The now-19-year-old, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April 2016, cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
An ex-boyfriend's revenge
According to the document, he began fantasizing about hurting — possibly even killing — the victim's new boyfriend and soon hatched a plan with several friends dubbed "Project Zombify." The boy started gathering weapons, including baseball bats and knives, as well as masks to conceal identity and duct tape to cover shoe prints.
According to the boy, Leflar was not the target but could be "collateral damage" if she interfered with the plan. The boy tried to buy chloroform to "knock her out" but failed in his purchase and settled on paint thinner.
Ultimately, the plan was called down when the victim broke up with her new boyfriend.
The boy then tried to convince her to renew their relationship, but according to the court document, "she told the young person to leave her alone, and to allow her to move on."
Tipping point
The boy secretly stalked Leflar online with a fake Facebook account. When he discovered she was in a new relationship, that "proved to be a tipping point for him," the document says.
He recruited a friend to bring a knife to school and asked him to convince Leflar to meet him alone at her house after school. The court document outlines how the friend convinced Leflar to hang out with him, and that Leflar told her own friends and boyfriend that she felt it was "sketchy" and "I don't trust him."
The friend involved in the killing has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Leflar's death.
Gruesome stabbing
On Jan. 12, 2015, the two boys staked out Leflar's house after school. The killer who instigated the plan was wearing latex work gloves, dark jeans and a camouflage jacket, the document says.
The killer then attacked Leflar in her home and stabbed her at least 10 times. He gave the knife and Leflar's phone to his friend, who was also on scene, to store. The killer also sliced his left hand.
After the murder, he went to a female friend's house and said he had hurt his hand in a hunting accident. The friend's mother took him to Regina General Hospital for treatment.
According to the court document, the killer later confessed to his brother: "He explained that he had done something very bad ... He said that he stabbed her with a knife and he also imitated what the victim sounded like when she was dying."
The killer buried the knife near an abandoned farm yard.
He was later arrested and has been in custody at the Paul Dojack Youth Centre ever since.
If Justice Jennifer Pritchard approves an adult sentence, the 19-year-old killer would be given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 years. The publication ban on his name would also be lifted.