Loretta Saunders murder case back in court for pre-trial motions
Blake Legette and Victoria Henneberry to be tried for 1st-degree murder
One of two people accused of killing Loretta Saunders was back in court Tuesday to deal with some preliminary issues prior to the trial.
The body of the 26-year-old Saint Mary's University student was found in the median of the Trans-Canada Highway west of Salisbury, N.B., on Feb. 26. She was last seen on Feb. 13.
Victoria Henneberry, 28, and Blake Leggette, 25, are both charged with first-degree murder in Saunders's death. Police believe she was killed in the Halifax apartment she shared with the pair and that they disposed of her body in New Brunswick.
Lawyers are spending this week arguing over the admissibility of evidence and whether there should be one trial, or two.
On Tuesday, Henneberry's lawyer, Pat Atherton, asked court to delay arguments on the trial issue until Wednesday morning. With the court's agreement, Henneberry was returned to cells and court spent the day hearing arguments on the admissibility of evidence.
Leggette's lawyer, Terry Sheppard, wants certain evidence against his client excluded from the trial. He and the Crown spent Tuesday arguing that issue.
The Crown said no matter what the judge decides on the severance issue, a murder trial for at least one accused should begin in April.