The live-in landlord of a missing Calgary woman and toddler says he has been left with no means of communicating with the outside world as he continues to await an update from police.
While a CTV Calgary camera rolled, Robert Leeming told a reporter with the United Kingdom’s Daily Mirror Wednesday night that he has ‘very little trust for the world right now’.
“You’re guilty before you’re proven innocent,” said Leeming during the interview conducted at the entrance to his townhouse in the southeast community of Cranston. “I’m exhausted. I clearly would not have been let back in my house if anything was untoward. Everybody seems to make their mind up.”
The 34-year-old says he was arrested by police and interviewed in connection with the disappearance of his tenants, Jasmine Lovett and Lovett’s daughter 22-month old Aliyah Sanderson, a disappearance that is now considered to be a double-homicide. As of Thursday evening, there have been no charges laid in connection with the investigation.
“When I last saw Jasmine she was fine,” said Leeming. “They were both sitting down here (gesturing towards sofa in the front room of his townhouse. I left to go and see another girl.”
Leeming confirms he has had a girlfriend for the last few months, ‘I’ve not been seeing her that long’, and that he and Lovett had been friends who got on really well and helped each other.
According to police, Lovett was alive on Tuesday, April 16 but no one has heard from her since. Her bank card was used two days later to buy something online but police have not confirmed who made the purchase.
Leeming remains steadfast in declaring that he is not responsible for the disappearance and says, since his release from custody on Friday, April 26, he has not been talking with anyone. “I don’t have a vehicle. I don’t have a phone. I don’t have a computer. I have got some food.”
He says his lawyer has told him not to say anything and that’s why he has ‘laid low for a while’. “I think it’s best just to let the police do their job and not cause any further issues for them so I can get cleared,” explained Leeming. “My biggest concern is causing a difficulty with the police and, right now, I don’t want to do that. The attention should not be on me.”
The British citizen says he has permanent resident status in Canada and still has access to his passport but has ‘no intention of going back’ to the U.K.
When the Daily Mirror reporter asked if there was anything the news organization could do for him, Leeming let out a laugh and said ‘find them’.
With files from CTV's Kathy Le
