Friend of slain Texas man speaks out about suspect's arrest in Halifax

A Texas woman says she's relieved the man accused of killing a close family friend was apprehended in Halifax last week.

"I felt like I could exhale," Debra Nizza said by telephone from her home in Wills Point, which is about 80 kilometres east of Dallas.

Burton (Burt) Duane Sanborn, 78, lived in Eastland County, Texas, about 170 kilometres southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and died in late June in what police are calling an act of homicide where he suffered severe head trauma, according to local television station KTXS.

Sanborn was close friends with Nizza's uncle, Preston Hogue, and was a fixture at family functions.

The accused, Derek Cameron Whisenand, 28, was apprehended in Halifax on Dec. 30 after a shoplifting incident at a business in the Bayers Lake Business Park. Whisenand illegally crossed the border from North Dakota into Manitoba in late June and made his way east.

It's unclear how long Whisenand was in Halifax, but a document from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada says he was living in a tent in a wooded area at the time of his arrest.

Nizza said Sanborn was retired and his career included teaching history at a college.

'We're still in shock," she said. "We miss him."

'He trusted way too easily'

Nizza said there was a time in her life where she was estranged from her extended family, but Sanborn kept in touch.

"Burt was the one who would reach out and write and say, 'Hey, you hang in there. You're a good person, blah, blah, blah.' He was an awesome person. He was very loving and very giving, he trusted way too easily," she said.

Nizza said it was within the last year she learned Sanborn was helping out Whisenand, who was supposedly homeless. In exchange for a place to stay, Whisenand helped Sanborn around the house with moving things around and helping with computer tasks.

Nizza's regret

"I felt bad. I wish I had pursued trying to find out who this person was that he was trying to help," she said. "I felt bad that I didn't get up in his business and say, 'Hey, Burt. Can we help you with this person?'"

Nizza said on recent visits, she and her mother would meet with Sanborn at a Chinese food restaurant. She never met Whisenand.

Whisenand has been in custody since his arrest. He wasn't represented by a lawyer at a hearing Wednesday before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and requested an adjournment to find legal representation.

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