N.B. serial killer's criminal history preserved online

The law department at the University of New Brunswick is opening a special digital archive devoted to Allan Legere, New Brunswick's worst serial killer.

Law librarian Ann Crocker has collected 60,000 pages of transcripts, including original court sketches, and will preserve the case in a special section of the university archives. It's been 17 years since Legere, an escaped convict, went on a killing spree in the Miramichi area.

Crocker said it was a frightening time for many, but also an important time in New Brunswick's legal history.

"This was really a socio-legal watershed in New Brunswick history," Crocker said. "His conviction for murder, even though there were no witnesses to his killings, was based largely on the use of DNA evidence, and that was the very first occasion in Canadian legal history."

During a seven-month period in 1989, Legere escaped from prison and four people were murdered. RCMP led the biggest manhunt in the province's history and New Brunswickers were scared. Many were sleeping with loaded rifles and putting floodlights in their yards.

The Legere collection goes online Friday afternoon during an event with invited guests that include Judge David Dickson. Dickson sent Legere away for life in 1991, and he's submitted his reflections on the case to be part of the library. Articles written by some of the prosecutors in the case will also be included.

Legere is in a prison in Quebec serving multiple life sentences for murder.