Parole eligibility decision reserved for man who killed ex, child

A Calgary man who admitted to murdering his former girlfriend and was later convicted of killing her young daughter will have to wait until November to learn his fate.

A judge on Tuesday reserved his sentencing decision regarding parole eligibility for Robert Leeming, following arguments from the Crown and defence. 

 

The family of Jasmine Lovett and Aliyah Sanderson had victim impact statements read into the record at court. 

 

Jodi Sanderson, Aliyah's grandmother, was emotional as she told court “the pain is overwhelming.”

 

“Torture is the only word that I can think of is how I feel,” she said. “I will always miss the love and joy Aliyah brought to me.”

 

Leeming, 37, had pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Lovett, 25, but not guilty in the death of 22-month-old Aliyah.

 

Leeming testified Aliyah had fallen down some stairs in his southeast Calgary home and was later unresponsive.

 

He said he snapped when Lovett accused him of doing something to her child.

 

Leeming struck Lovett several times with a hammer before shooting her in the head with a rifle.

 

However, a judge found Leeming guilty of second-degree murder in Aliyah's death, and he faces an automatic life sentence for both deaths. 

 

Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Douglas Taylor argued Leeming should get parole between 15 and 20 years in the death of Lovett, but it should be maximized to 25 years for the death of Aliyah. 

 

“Mr. Leeming abused a power of trust with Aliyah and Jasmine,” Taylor said in court. 

 

“The guilty plea (for the murder of Lovett) changed the way we prosecuted the case. Mr. Leeming pleaded guilty, and he gets credit for that ... It’s an admission of remorse.”

 

Leeming, bearded with short hair, sat in the prisoner's box wearing a grey sweater. 

 

Defence counsel Balfour Der says he is looking at 20 years for eligibility for his client. 

 

“There’s no way to know what Mr. Leeming will be like in 20 years,” he said. 

 

“If we honour the concept that the door to rehabilitation is left open, we leave it to the parole board to make that decision. They’ll have 20 years worth of facts and data on how this man has behaved himself in the penal system.”

 

The bodies of the mother and child were found buried in a shallow grave in Kananaskis Country, west of Calgary, in May 2019, after they were reported missing weeks earlier.

 

Leeming, who was found guilty in January, had his sentencing delayed while the Supreme Court of Canada deliberated and ultimately quashed consecutive periods of parole ineligibility for multiple murderers.

 

Justice Keith Yamauchi says he will have his decision sometime between Nov. 7 and 10. 

 

He hopes to have both sides meet Sept. 16 to set a sentencing date for that week. 

 

“I don’t take this lightly, that I can just dish off the bench,” Yamauchi said. 

 

Yamauchi asked Leeming if he would like to say anything, to which he replied with a whisper of “no.”