Nova Scotia

Loretta Saunders case: Henneberry, Leggette to stand trial on 1st-degree murder

The couple accused of first-degree murder in the death of Halifax university student Loretta Saunders will go to trial, a court determined today.

Victoria Henneberry, Blake Leggette charged after Halifax student's body found in N.B.

A young Inuk woman is wearing a red dress.
The body of Loretta Saunders, 26, was found on the median of Route 2 on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Salisbury, N.B., on Feb. 26, 13 days after she went missing. (Facebook)

The couple accused of first-degree murder in the death of Halifax university student Loretta Saunders will go to trial, a court decided today.

Victoria Henneberry, 28, and Blake Leggette, 26, are scheduled to appear in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Aug. 28.

Victoria Henneberry, 28, and Blake Leggette, 25, arrive at the Nova Scotia provincial court on Spring Garden Road on Feb. 28. They're charged with first-degree murder in the Loretta Saunders case. (Craig Paisley/CBC and Rebecca Martel/Radio-Canada)

Henneberry cried Friday as Judge Anne Derrick reviewed the evidence against her in provincial court in Halifax.

Saunders, 26, disappeared from Halifax on Feb. 13. Henneberry and Leggette had been subletting her apartment in Cowie Hill. They were arrested in Ontario with her car five days after she disappeared. Her body was found in a wooded area off the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick on Feb. 26.

The couple's preliminary hearing has seen some dramatic moments requiring heavy security to be brought in and the pair being brought to the courthouse early.

On the third day, Saunders's uncle lunged at the co-accused, but family members grabbed him before he reached the two.

A publication ban has been placed on the evidence presented during the preliminary hearing.