A picture of the final hours prior to the death of Vanderhoof teen Loren Donn Leslie was given some detail Thursday as the trial for the man accused of murdering her and three women continued at the Prince George courthouse.
Richard Wruth said he runs an afterschool program, Vanderhoof Children's Theatre, which uses Nechako Valley Secondary School (NVSS) to put on productions during the school year.
He had gathered some items at the home of a coworker Noela Hansen for a show to drive over to NVSS on the night of Nov. 27, 2010. Just before 8:30 p.m., as they were driving to the high school, Wruth noticed Loren Donn Leslie come out of the apartment complex where she lived.
Her head was down and she appeared to be texting or playing on a cellphone or electronic device, Wruth told the court.
Wruth said he recognized Leslie because she used to participate in the program he had run since 1999.
"She was in many shows with us," Ruth said and added she was "in and out of the program."
Wruth said she was wearing a pair of shorts.
"And I thought, 'how foolish, you're wearing shorts in the middle of winter' and I continued on my way."
Wruth and Hansen dropped the items off at NVSS and were soon back on the way to the home to drop her off.
On the trip back, Wruth said he noticed a dark-coloured pickup truck stationary but running and with no one inside the cab parked near a chain link at McLeod Elementary School, a short distance away from NVSS.
He then saw Leslie sitting on a swing set at the school and someone also wearing shorts, as well as a hoodie or a jacket, walking towards her.
"I said [to the coworker] it was bloody cold and why are they wearing shorts?" Wruth said.
Wruth said he thought the person was a male but was not certain. He also agreed that the person walking towards Leslie did not appear to be furtive and did not turn around to look at the vehicle Wruth and his co-worker were in as they drove by.
Hansen told the court she saw Leslie the evening before, a Friday, at a convenience store with a "gentleman" and appearing "really happy."
When she saw Leslie on the swing set the following night, Hansen said she looked "quite sad."
"She wasn't smiling," Hansen said and later told the court that while the lighting was fairly dim there was still some light from the school.
Hansen also noted the swing set has since been removed.
With the help of Charity Funk, a close friend and next door neighbour of Leslie's, the court was taken through an exchange of text messages sent about the same time Legebokoff is suspected to have met up with Leslie.
When Funk asked her what she was up to, Leslie replied "not much, out driving" and when asked who she was with, just said "Cody," the court heard. Leslie then described Cody as a friend from Prince George, and when Funk offered to go out for coffee with her, Leslie declined saying "I'm sorry, maybe tomorrow when I get back from P.G."
Funk said she and Leslie usually saw each other every day and would text each other "probably at least once an hour."
But Funk said she had not seen Leslie for about a week because they had a fight.
"We just had a slight disagreement, was more like it," Funk said as tears welled in her eyes. "I had my feelings hurt."
Leslie's mental state and her habit of so-called "delicate cutting" was also a topic.
Dr. Johannes Geida, a psychiatrist based in Prince George who treated Leslie said the practice, in which the wrists are lightly cut, is not an attempt to commit suicide.
"It's somewhat epidemic right now in culture," Geida said. "Young women especially although young men are starting to do it more and more, cut themselves in vulnerable sites where there are a lot of nerve endings to generate a feeling, usually of pain.
"But it causes a massive release in the brain of endorphin and then a soothing feeling, somewhat of a high. Most of that behaviour has nothing to do with suicide. Most of that behaviour has to do with tension relief, anxiety relief, the relief of sadness and like other forms of behaviour that give you a bit of a buzz, it can become quite addictive and become a behaviour unto itself."
