Emotions ran high Friday as victim impact statements from the families of the three women and the teenage girl Cody Allan Legebokoff has been convicted of murdering were read into the record during a sentencing hearing at the Prince George courthouse.
They spoke not only about how the losses have affected their lives but, in the cases of Cynthia Frances Maas, Natasha Lynn Montgomery and Jill Stacey Stuchenko, sought to set the record straight about who they were.
Portrayed as drug addicts and sex trade workers during the trial, they were described as mothers, sisters and aunts whose warmth and laughter have been profoundly missed.
Dressed in black and clutching an eagle feather, as she had done as she sat in the gallery throughout the trial, Judy Maas stepped to a podium off to Legebokoff's side to tell of a sister, "Cindy," who "against all odds" graduated from private school.
"Cindy also decided that she was going on a school trip to China with the Christian Academy to deliver bibles, which opened up her world to other types of struggles," Maas said.
But Cynthia Maas, who was 35 years old when she died, was "born with a disability and was therefore most vulnerable to those that preyed on such people."
"She was an innocent. She had dreams and aspirations for her life. However, she fell victim to a drug when her cousin told her to try something that would make her feel good. She believed that everybody had everyone's best interests in their heart, because she did. She was trusting."
Even when her addiction took her to the streets, Maas would continue to call her family and attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
"She was not happy about where her life was at and wanted to change it so desperately," Judy Maas said. "At one point a text message from her [was sent] to my youngest daughter, apologizing that she wasn't the auntie that she wanted to be."
A shaking and tearful Louanne Montgomery described her daughter, Natasha,as a "beautiful person, inside and out."
"She always had a huge smile. When she was in the room, everyone knew she was there. She had a huge bubbly personality, she was friendly to everyone and always found a way to make you feel good," Louanne Montgomery said.
Her daughter grew up in a nurturing home and was raised to be a loving person, the court heard. Natasha Montgomery played softball and figure skated for years and graduated from high school.
"She liked to draw, scrap booking, played the clarinet and trumpet, she liked to sing and do many types of crafts," her mother said.
On family camping trips, Natasha Montgomery enjoyed fishing, tubing, hiking and quadding.
"It's something we now do in her honour at that special spot where we all liked to get together," Louanne Montgomery said.
Natasha Montgomery, 23, had two children and lived in Quesnel, but was in Prince George where she had been released in August 2010 from the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre shortly before she went missing.
She has not been found but her blood was found throughout Legebokoff's apartment and on an ax stored in the home.
That her body has never been found has become an obsession for her mother who spoke of frequent and debilitating "meltdowns" since the loss.
"I can't let things go," Louanne said. "I want her back so bad. I would go on Google Earth and trying and figure out where to look...it just consumes me."
Crown prosecutor Lara Vizsolyi read 13 more statements into the record.
Stuchenko, who was 35, was described as "happy and bubbly" and "dreamed of being a famous singer."
One of Stuchenko's six children, now 15 years old, said she now cries herself to sleep at night and must deal with depression and anxiety since her mother's death.
"I barely talk to anybody, I barely communicate," she said.
Donna Leslie, the mother of Loren Donn Leslie, the partially blind 15-year-old for whose murder Legebokoff was initially arrested for in late November 2010, said she "lost my mind" since her death.
"The best years of my life were when I was raising my young kids," she said. "I had a very supportive husband so I could stay home with them. I have wonderful memories of that time. Losing Loren has basically destroyed them. I am shattered, heartbroken and will never be the same."
Father Doug Leslie described Loren as a "fun-loving, innocent little girl" who he thinks about every day.
"All I have left is a deep sadness that never ends, that never leaves me," he said.
Found guilty Thursday by a jury of four counts of first degree murder, Legebokoff will be sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for parole for 25 years. However, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett must decide whether Legebokoff's name should be added to the national sex offender registry and will issue a written reasons for judgment on that matter on Tuesday morning.
Asked by Parrett if he had anything to say prior to sentencing, Legebokoff said he "pretty much covered everything I was going to say when I testified."
When he took to the stand in his defence during the trial, Legebokoff said that while he provided the weapons, a drug dealer and two accomplices carried out the actual killings of Maas, Montgomery and Stuchenko. He also admitted to striking Leslie with a pipe wrench and then leaving the scene where her body was found but maintained the murder was not planned and deliberate.
