Loretta Saunders's father can't 'handle' being in courtroom

The father of Loretta Saunders, the Halifax student whose slaying renewed calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, says he can't bear to be in court as the case against her accused killers is outlined this week in Halifax.

Victoria Henneberry, 28, and Blake Leggette, 25, of Halifax are charged with first-degree murder in the death of the 26-year-old Saint Mary's University student.

They're scheduled to be in Halifax provincial court all week for their preliminary hearings.

"I'm not planning on going in there at all, because [of] what they'll be saying. It's very hard and stressful to hear [about my] daughter being murdered," said Clayton Saunders. "I wouldn't be able to handle it I don't think."

He said he'll only attend when his family testifies.

"It's really unreal. We don't know what they're going to ask or say. It's stressful … then again it might do a lot of good."

Saunders disappeared from Halifax on Feb. 13. 

Henneberry and Leggette had been subletting Saunders's apartment in Cowie Hill.

They were arrested in Ontario with her car five days after she disappeared.  

The 26-year-old woman's body was later found in a wooded area off the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick on Feb. 26.

On Monday, defence lawyers for Henneberry and Leggette made the standard request for a publication ban, which was granted.

Publication bans protect the suspects' right to a fair trial. Preliminary hearings determine whether there is enough evidence to require a trial.

The preliminary hearings are set for July 21 to 25 and, if necessary, Aug. 1.

Saunders was Inuk and her homicide sparked called for a public inquiry.

At the time of her disappearance, Saunders was doing her thesis on missing and murdered aboriginal women.