Canadian True Crime - 64 The Murder of Hannah Leflar - Part 1

Episode Date: April 15, 2020

[ Part 1 of a 2 part series ]REGINA, SASKATCHEWANIn 2015, a much-loved 16 year old girl would become the focal point of a devastating story of twisted obsession and revenge would shock the city of Regina and leave her loved ones heartbroken.Find out more about: The Robb Nash Project Credits: Research: Enya BestResearch and writing: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams  Disclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True Crime Theme Song: We Talk of Dreams All credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before I started podcasting at the end of 2016, there were a couple of podcasts that inspired me to start mine. One of them is They Walk Among Us, which covers UK true crimes. It's similar in style to this one except with a male host, Benjamin, who researches and writes it along with his wife Rosie. These two are wonderful people that I'm proud to call friends, and us independent podcasters have to stick together. If you haven't checked out They Walk Among Us yet, you definitely should. Here's a short trailer. Diving deep into those cases splashed across the headlines. They Walk Among Us has been praised by the Guardian who called the show a cult hit.

The Financial Times referred to it as sharply written, and the new statesman labelled it the mysterious true crime podcast that'll keep you up at night. Listen to They Walk Among Us on a cast, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. I know much for the lovely feedback and comments after my news last week. I've received a few questions about whether I'll now be producing more frequent episodes. Let's just say it was not my plan to exchange my day job for that of a homeschool teacher. Yet, here I am. So, needless to say there won't be any more frequent episodes for a while. But what I can do is make sure that you don't have to wait for two weeks between multi-part series again.

And this is what we have today. This is a two-part series, but you'll get part two in a week, and then the next episode is scheduled a week after that. Thank you so much for understanding and, as always, for your support. This podcast contains course language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. It was Monday, January the 12th, 2015, in Regina, the capital city of the province of Saskatchewan. It was a freezing cold winter's day, and Wade Anderson returned home from work shortly before 6pm. He was happily married to his wife Janet, and Janet's 16-year-old daughter Hannah lived with them as well.

As he first entered the house, nothing appeared overly unusual, but then he went into the master bedroom. There, lying face down at the foot of the bed, was 16-year-old Hannah. Wade was immediately panicked, and because it was dark outside, he turned on the bathroom light and noticed that Hannah had blood in her hair, and there was blood all around her, although he couldn't see any actual injuries. Immediately, he called 911 and began chest compressions while he waited. Constable Jeff Crowley was the first responder to the 911 call, only knowing that inside the house was an injured, possibly deceased person. Wade saw the look on the Constable's face and knew immediately what it meant. Hannah had succumbed to her injuries.

When paramedics arrived, the 16-year-old was pronounced dead. What would unravel would be a shocking story of twisted obsession and revenge that would shock the city of Regina and leave Hannah's loved ones heartbroken. This is Christy, and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 64. Hannah Maggie Leffler was born Thursday, November 19, 1998, to parents Janet and Jeff. She was a calm and easy baby and started sleeping through the night at just two months old. Hannah continued to be easy as a toddler, bypassing that terrible two-stage that most parents report. As Hannah was starting kindergarten in 2003, Janet and Jeff separated. But they knew that Hannah was number one in their lives and prioritized spending a lot of time together as a family to make the transition as easy for Hannah as possible.

As Hannah grew up, she struggled a bit with shyness around new people, but always played well with other kids. In fact, making friends was something Hannah was always very good at. She was always friendly and well-liked by her peers. As the years passed, both parents remarried, and Hannah continued to split her time between the homes of her mother Janet and stepfather Wade and her father Jeff and stepmother Laurie. Hannah was considered to be an ideal teenager. In fact, her stepfather Wade would say that she was exactly the kind of 16-year-old daughter that any mum or dad would want to have. Hannah loved animals, especially horses. She enjoyed the peacefulness of being in nature, as well as reading books, drawing and writing. She loved video games, and she excelled at school. She was a straight A student. It was 2013 and the school year had just started, with Hannah in 10th grade at Tom Collegiate High School. She was on the honor roll and excelled in the school's trades program, with dreams of perhaps becoming an electrician.

Hannah was friends with a lot of people. She was known to be a very loyal friend who had no hesitation in helping anyone who needed it. She would often have friends over to her house. One of these friends was Lucas, not his real name, a boy from her grade in high school who used to come over to the house for casual visits. To Hannah's mum Janet, he seemed to be almost too friendly and familiar. He often used to tell them stories about having a difficult life. And even though he was just 15 years old, he would tell Janet to let him know when she and Hannah's stepfather Wade were going out for a cigarette, so he could come along too. 14-year-old Hannah and her mum Janet were very close, and Hannah confessed that she had feelings for a boy at school. Janet was curious because Hannah wasn't a typical teenager, and this was the first boy that she'd ever shown any interest in. One day, the boy made a visit to the house, and Janet met him in the driveway. His name was Skyler, and he was the same age as Hannah.

He was also Lucas' good friend. As he walked away after the visit, Janet remarked to her daughter that she could see what Hannah saw in this boy. He had dark, curly hair under a baseball cap, and was wearing a black leather jacket. He had an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder. The two began officially dating not long after that, and things were going really well. Janet reported that Skyler was always really friendly and talkative with the family. He helped Hannah with her chores after school, and in return, she helped him with math. A month or two into the relationship, Hannah told her mum that Skyler's ex-girlfriend was scared of him. She laughed about it and said, isn't that stupid? Janet told her daughter that, actually, it sounded like a red flag, and to make sure that she kept her eyes open about it. Over the next few months, things continued to go well, and the relationship became a serious one.

But over time, Janet noticed that Skyler gradually started wanting to take over more of Hannah's time. As an only child, Hannah valued her solitary moments, and enjoyed downtime spent reading, writing, or gaming by herself. Sometimes, Skyler would just show up at the house after Hannah had told him she wanted some alone time. She told Janet that it bothered her when he did this. Skyler gradually tried to control Hannah more and more, telling her who she could and couldn't be friends with. Janet noticed that her daughter even started to dress a bit like him. Skyler liked to wear biker jackets and big skull rings, and at Christmas, he got Hannah her own leather vest that he attached different patches to. As Spring approached, Janet noticed that her daughter seemed depressed and down a lot. She kept asking what was wrong and asking if everything was okay with Skyler.

But whatever was bothering Hannah, she chose to keep quiet about it for now. Janet knew that Hannah would tell her when she was ready, and she did a few weeks later in May. Skyler had told Hannah that if she ever broke up with him, he would kill himself, and this was making her feel trapped. Janet was quick to tell her daughter that no, he wouldn't kill himself, it was just a threat. And she added that if he did, there's a lot more wrong there than just Hannah breaking up with him. So Hannah broke up with Skyler a few days later, putting an end to their 8 month relationship. She gave him back the leather vest along with everything else that he gave her, but he didn't take the breakup well. He continued to contact her via several social media platforms, asking her to get back together.

After a while, she had no choice but to block his number and block him from social media. He bugged her at school for a little while after this, but as far as Janet knew, he seemed to get over it, and Hannah was free for the summer. Hannah was always a loyal and sincere friend. In the fall, she and Skyler reignited a casual friendship. Hannah assumed that everything was behind them. They would sometimes hang out at school together. He would give her rides to and from school, and they even went out to a movie once. Janet asked Hannah if they were going to get back together, and she said no, she just wanted to be friends. Janet told her daughter to make sure that Skyler knew this, because she suspected that he thought they were getting back together. And when Hannah broached the subject with Skyler, she found out that her mum was right.

He did want to get back together, and was disappointed when Hannah told him otherwise. In October, Hannah had started dating someone new, a boy who we'll call Stephen. When Skyler found out, he started stalking Hannah, driving past her house a lot with Lucas in the car with him, which was odd since Hannah considered Lucas to be a friend of hers. Skyler would honk the horn and squeal the tyres while driving by. At school, one time Hannah was sitting on the front lawn with friends, and Skyler and Lucas stood behind her for a minute, smoking a cigar, before flicking ashes into her hair. One day, Hannah and Stephen were walking home from school,

as they got close to Hannah's house, they saw Skyler's truck drive by, and Stephen yelled out at him, aware of Skyler's habit of taking drive-bys past Hannah's house. The truck made a sharp and sudden U-turn, and jumped the sidewalk in front of Hannah's house, cutting her and Stephen off. They saw that Lucas was sitting in the passenger's car, and Skyler jumped out of his truck with a pipe wrench and started swinging it at Hannah and Stephen. Luckily, a neighbour across the street had contractors at the house who saw what was happening. They ran over, yelling to break it up, and then called the police.

Luckily, no one was struck by the pipe wrench, and everyone was okay. Shaken up, Hannah messaged her mum at work to tell her what happened. Janet came home right away. As they hugged, Janet asked her daughter if she wanted to file a restraining order on Skyler. Hannah had been raised to have critical thinking skills, and Janet trusted and encouraged her to make informed decisions for herself. Hannah thought about it and decided not to file a restraining order. She thought that it would make it worse.

Janet told Hannah that she needed to cut Skyler off once and for all, as well as Lucas. It was obvious that neither of them were her friend. Shortly after that, Skyler dropped out of school, and was charged with assault after the police arrested her. After that, Skyler dropped out of school, and was charged with assault after the pipe wrench incident. His first court date was on November the 19th, Hannah's 16th birthday. As far as Janet knew, Skyler didn't bother Hannah again after that. Hannah and Stephen broke up, and a month or two later, she started dating someone else.

The morning of January the 12th, 2015, Janet was driving to Saskatoon for work, around three hours drive from Regina. Her job often took her on the road. Just after 6pm, she got a phone call from her husband Wade. Thinking it was just a nightly check-up call, she answered and jokingly asked if he missed her already. But it wasn't that. He cut Janet off and frantically asked her the names of the last boys Hannah had dated.

The only one Janet could remember was Skyler. Wade then took a deep breath and told his wife she needed to come home immediately. Janet asked if she really needed to, since she was at work three hours away and it was a new position. Could it wait until she was scheduled to come home two days later? No. Wade asked her to pack up her stuff and get home now. Janet started calling her co-workers to let them know she had to drive home, adding that she didn't think it was anything serious and she'd probably be back in the morning. She quickly called Wade back and tried to get him to tell her what was going on.

If it was really that important, couldn't he just tell her now? He said no and emphasized that she needed to trust him. Janet didn't know it, but her husband was talking to her from the back of a police cruiser. As she got into her car, she got a terrible feeling and sent him a text. Just tell me Hannah's okay. He didn't answer. On the drive, Janet remembered that it was a beautiful, clear night and she kept looking up at the stars. At one point she said, you better not be up there kid. And then she'd tell herself to stop that, stop jumping to the worst case scenario and keep calm.

But one thing she did know on that drive was that whatever happened, Skyler was involved. As she was about 30 minutes away from Regina, Wade called back to ask Janet how much longer she'll be. He told her not to go home, go to the police station. Janet started to cry and told him that she was starting to feel scared. Is Hannah still alive? All Wade would say was that his wife just needed to get to the station as soon as she could. As Janet drove into the city limits, she started to shake and by the time she got to the station, she could hardly steer straight. When she walked into the building, she didn't see Wade, but an investigator led her into a small room with a few other investigators inside and told her to sit down.

I'm sorry to tell you this, but your daughter was deceased today. Janet remembers bowing her head down and letting out a small scream as the pieces of the puzzle came together in her mind. She jumped up and started yelling that it was Skyler, spelling out his full name. She gave the police the address of where his mother lived and told them they needed to go and get him right now. She asked if she could see her husband and they said no, he was being questioned. In her panic, Janet realized she'd forgotten to call Hannah's father, Jeff. When he arrived, Janet hugged him and told him that their daughter was gone. He asked where?

Janet told him that someone came into the house and killed her and she thought it was Skyler. A few minutes after that, Janet was told she could go and see Wade. He was upset that the investigators told Janet before he did. Wade recounted to her how he came home from work and found 16-year-old Hannah's body lying at the foot of the bed in their master bedroom, lying in a pool of blood. At this point, Janet remembered that neither of them were crying. They were both in complete shock. An officer came back and Wade was told he had to go as they had more questions for Janet. The police wanted to know why she thought it was Skyler and she told them it was because he had been kind of stalking her. The police asked Janet if she ever reported it to police and she said no.

She said apart from the pipe wrench incident, Skyler was just bugging Hannah a bit and driving by the house, which was close to the school where everyone attended anyway. She didn't know what the police could have done about it and worried that she might have been overreacting. The next morning, the cops called to let Janet know they had arrested a suspect in the middle of the night. They wouldn't say who it was but didn't deny that it was Skyler. But they also said they were preparing to arrest a second suspect. The next few days were a blur with Hannah's family and closest friends in a state of shock. Janet tried her best to stay calm but it was hard. Two days after Hannah's body had been found, the two people arrested were formally charged in court.

Janet couldn't attend so Wade attended in her place and reported back that the second person charged was Lucas. Janet found out that while she thought Skyler had lost interest in stalking Hannah, he had never stopped trying to contact her through her friends and she also found out something else, courtesy of one of Hannah's friends. Hannah had gotten Skyler a small tablet for his birthday when they were together and after they had broken up, he smashed it with a hammer on the front step of Hannah's house. Wade noticed a few pieces of electronics there but didn't think much of it at the time. Do you have a passion project that you're ready to take to the next level? Square Space makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence,

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that's squarespace.com.ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. A week after Hannah's death more than a hundred people gathered at her high school for a vigil organized by three mothers of other students at the school. It began with a prayer for Hannah's family and then both sets of parents led a walk from the high school to Hannah's house where she was murdered. The same route she took on what would be her last walk home. A spokesperson for the vigil spoke to the media saying that some people in the community were frightened by the homicide which is why they made a point of walking the same route that Hannah took home.

Once the vigil participants got to the house they placed candles and stuffed bears on the front lawn and released star shaped balloons into the sky that were Hannah's favorite color purple. Janet thanked everyone for coming and told them how grateful the family were for the community's support. Quote, I know she touched all of you and will all miss her. Friends of Hannah's were devastated. Feeling helpless they made t-shirts and bracelets to commemorate their loyal and compassionate friend. In the meantime, Janet was grappling with whether to go back to their house. Their master bedroom was also the crime scene and they had to wait until it was processed and cleared.

In the first few days after they were allowed back in, Janet was convinced that she'd never go back to that house. They'd just have to sell it. And then a friend reminded her that it was Hannah's house and she loved it. Janet realized, of course she could go back. After all, it was their home and those boys had taken enough from the family. They weren't taking the house as well. Once that happened, Janet and Wade went back for a short visit with their cats.

Wade had gone in first and put it back in. He told Janet not to look, but she couldn't help herself. This was the spot where Hannah took her last breath. They had to hire professional cleaners to clean the master bedroom. Eight days after the murder, they moved back in officially. But they couldn't move back into the master bedroom, so Wade had gone back to the master bedroom. He cleaned up the blood droplets throughout the house to get it ready for them to come home.

The autopsy results were in. Hannah had been stabbed to death. The cause of her death was a death sentence. The autopsy results were in. Hannah had been stabbed to death. Hannah had been stabbed to death. The cause of her death was found to be a stab wound to her head. The report noted that the blade went in so deep that it almost cut her cervical spinal cord.

She also suffered nine defensive stab wounds to her torso, puncturing one of her lungs. There was a large slash on her arm and other stab wounds on her back and hands. It was clearly a brutal and sustained attack done with the intent of causing death. And worse for her family to imagine was that Hannah was alive for most of the attack and she didn't immediately die. And because of her punctured lung, she would have been gasping to breathe throughout most of the attack. A horrible thought for her family. On Wednesday, January 21st, 2015, Skyler and Lucas appeared in a Regina courtroom,

charged with first-degree murder. Their names were under a publication ban because both boys were 16 and under the protection of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which prevented their names from being released. Due to the seriousness of the crime, the Crown said that it would seek adult sentences for the two teenagers, which would mean the publication ban would be lifted. The courtroom was packed with Hannah's friends and family.

At this time, Hannah's family had said very little to the media, other than giving permission to release her name. The next day, almost a thousand people gathered for Hannah's funeral, many of them wearing her favourite colour, purple. Hannah's family wanted to focus on it being a celebration of her life. Her two sets of parents, Janet and Wade, and her father, Jeff and his wife, Laurie, had already decided to release her name. Just like they did when she was alive.

Hannah loved to write and part of the ceremony included an acrostic poem that she was working on called The ABCs of Life, where she wrote each letter of the alphabet and a motivational phrase that started with each letter. Hannah wrote the letter of the alphabet and a motivational phrase that started with each letter. It started... The letter K was unfinished,

as were W, X, Y and Z. A work interrupted, a life interrupted. Janet described her daughter's service as heavy and emotional, but it ended on a positive note. Hannah's idol was a Canadian musician and youth motivational speaker called Rob Nash. He's known for helping build up youth self-esteem and feelings of worth, and doesn't shy away from difficult topics like bullying, addiction, self-harm and suicide.

Hannah's father, Jeff, knew how much Rob's music and words had meant to Hannah, and after she died he reached out to the musician to invite him to speak at her funeral. Rob said yes right away, postponing three shows, renting a car and driving from Winnipeg to attend. He was described as speaking beautifully and positively about the situation and ended the service on a positive and inspirational note with a performance of his song, Transition, which he dedicated to Hannah. You'll hear a full version of the song at the end of this episode.

In May of 2015, just four months after Hannah's murder, Lucas applied to be released on bail with his name still under a publication ban. Hannah's family was outraged and Janet contacted media outlets to express their feelings. She also started a petition to deny him bail saying, The general public should be made aware of the danger our courts are potentially putting you and your children in. The petition got thousands of signatures in the first few hours. Several weeks later, as Lucas' legal team presented three hours worth of evidence at the bail hearing, the petition had more than 10,000 signatures.

His bail request was denied. The next year in April of 2016, 17-year-old Skyler pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. His name still under a publication ban too. His guilty plea meant he would skip the trial and go straight to a sentencing hearing. But this wasn't going to be just any sentencing hearing with the usual formalities. He was a youth under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, but the Crown announced that they would argue for Skyler to be sentenced as an adult. This would mean that he would receive the maximum adult sentence for first-degree murder,

an automatic life sentence of 25 years, and they wanted him to have no chance of parole for 10 years. In preparation for the hearing, Skyler was ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment, meaning that there would be some time before the hearing to make sure the necessary ducks were in a row. Later that year in November, almost two years after Hannah Lefler's death, Lucas went on trial for her first-degree murder. Although he was now 18, he was still considered to be a youth under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 16 at the time of the crime.

A jury was sworn in and opening statements were heard. Crown prosecutor Chris White said that while Lucas didn't hold the knife, he was there with Skyler every step of the way, from planning right up until Hannah's death. The Crown said that this was all part of a plan put together by Skyler, Lucas, and a group of their friends. The Crown told the court that they planned to call more than 20 witnesses, including Skyler, who had of course already pleaded guilty. Defence lawyer Greg Wilson said in his opening statement that Skyler was the one who conducted the attack, as evidenced by the fact that he'd already pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

He said that while Lucas was present at Hannah's home when she was murdered, that alone doesn't make him guilty of first-degree murder. The defence asserted that Lucas didn't know what Skyler was planning on doing that day, and once he found out, he tried to stop him. The court heard from Hannah's stepfather Wade, who testified about the shock of discovering her body when he arrived home from work. Also to testify were two members of the Regina Police Service and an advanced care paramedic who spoke about being first responders to the scene.

But on day two of the trial there was a shock. Justice Leanne Schwann declared a mistrial after announcing that new information had come to light, details of which were under publication ban. We'll get to what that information was later. Members of Hannah's family who were in the courtroom were visibly upset when this announcement was made. Again, Lucas applied to be released on bail as he awaited his new trial, and again, it was denied. Just three months after the mistrial, a new trial for Lucas was scheduled to start,

but before it began, he suddenly pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Behind the scenes, police had finally gained access to his cell phone, particularly deleted messages from around the time of Hannah's murder. His guilty plea meant the trial was cancelled and he'd go straight to a sentencing hearing at a later date, just like Skylar. Crown prosecutor Chris White announced to the media that the Crown would be seeking adult sentences for both Skylar and Lucas. He said that Lucas admitted to being a party to the murder, but the Crown's view was this, that Lucas' involvement was more significant than he was admitting,

and this was something that they planned to prove at the sentencing hearing. Hannah's mother Janet spoke to the awaiting media outside the courthouse, saying that she was relieved that both teenagers had accepted responsibility in the case. She said that what they had done was disgusting, especially at their young ages, and they needed to pay for it. Janet then went on to talk about her daughter, describing Hannah as the most amazing teenager that she'd ever met, adding that she hoped that everyone would remember her in the same way. Quote, she just wanted to be everybody's friend and ended up trusting the wrong people. So, at this point, both Skylar and Lucas had pleaded guilty.

Skylar to first-degree murder and Lucas to second-degree murder. They were both awaiting separate sentencing hearings, which would be more like mini trials because the Crown needed to argue that they should both be sentenced as adults. And, of course, their identities were still under a publication ban. Both sentencing hearings were in 2017, Skylar's in May and Lucas' in September, more than two-and-a-half years after Hannah's murder. At Skylar's hearing, a number of professionals presented reports on the now 19-year-old, including youth workers and psychologists.

Their reports were presented as testimony, along with a number of other professionals who had either assessed Skylar or had had dealings with him, like correctional service workers. These reports presented grim findings about Skylar's background and family situation. Skylar was born to teen parents who separated when he was young. One of the reports submitted stated that while Skylar's parents provided for him physically, their support of him in other ways, including emotional support, had been minimal, and he had no support from other relatives either.

His father was described as distant, and his mother was reported to be verbally and physically abusive towards him. At six years old, his mother referred him to child and youth services. After his teacher reported that he'd been talking about killing himself and his friends, as well as his teacher on a couple of occasions, at six years old, he'd also stated that he wanted to be a serial killer when he grew up. Skylar's mother viewed the whole thing as an example of teachers and professionals getting things wrong. She was quoted as saying,

If he wants to be a Chippendale dancer or a serial killer, I will support my kid. She reported that the likely reason why Skylar had been threatening suicide at school was because she had threatened it multiple times herself, although hadn't ever followed through with an attempt. He was just learning by example. Child and family services noted that Skylar had low self-esteem and was in distress about the dysfunction in his family. He admitted to threatening suicide so his parents would get back together.

He was referred for counselling, but his parents never showed up with him. At eight and a half years old, he was again referred to child and youth services because he'd been acting out at home and at school. His parents were receiving weekly calls from the school about his behaviour. He'd been throwing things, swearing and pushing other kids. He'd been suspended several times. In the years that followed, his parents reported that he started threatening suicide again and when he didn't get his own way, he would often say he wished that he were dead.

According to the report, Skylar had never attempted to follow through on any of his suicide threats. In September of 2014, about four months after Hannah had broken up with him, 16-year-old Skylar was taken to the adolescent psychiatric unit of the hospital after he was discovered putting a plan together for a possible suicide attempt. He was said to have been sitting in his garage when he called his father. He'd rigged up a pipe leading from the car exhaust into the window which was reportedly how his grandfather had died. The car hadn't been turned on yet and according to nursing notes,

Skylar just said he wanted to see what it would look like to set up a suicide. Suicide notes were also found, written to Hannah and his family but it was revealed that he'd actually written the notes months before just after Hannah broke up with him. Skylar stayed at the psychiatric unit for nine days where doctors assessed him as having a loss of interest, low energy and difficulty concentrating since his breakup with Hannah. They didn't believe that he was an actual suicide risk

and didn't see any clear symptoms that he was clinically depressed. After he was discharged, he was supposed to continue therapy with child and youth services again but he only kept his first appointment. In the months leading up to Hannah's murder, Skylar frequently skipped classes, often didn't hand in assignments and appeared to be disengaged from the rest of the class. Interactions with his peers had been difficult and there had been some ongoing issues of defiance and disrespect when it came to school officials. He was described as having poor social skills and low self-esteem

as well as difficulty managing feelings of guilt, sadness and jealousy. He was also reported as having issues with anger management. As you'll recall, Skylar stopped attending school in October of 2014, shortly after the pipe wrench incident. After that, he spent most of his time alone in his bedroom playing video games and also just driving around in his truck. His closest friends were Lucas and Lucas' brother. In both hearings, an agreed statement of facts was presented,

essentially Skylar and Lucas' version of events that had both been approved by the Crown and several witnesses also testified as to what they knew about it. Through these agreed statements of facts, the court heard exactly what had happened to Hannah Lefler. According to Skylar, he and Hannah were in a serious romantic relationship that went for eight months, starting in 2013. Hannah had ended the relationship in May of 2014 and Skylar had a difficult time moving on. About four months later, he found out that Hannah had a new boyfriend, Stephen. Skylar was outraged and he hatched a plan to hurt or possibly kill him in an attempt to scare him away. The pipe wrench attack happened with Lucas in the car.

Lucas didn't physically stop his friend but said he yelled at him and told him to smarten up. Skylar didn't listen but luckily no one was hurt. Although Hannah decided not to file a restraining order, charges were laid, assault with a weapon. Then Skylar dropped out of school. He was supposed to be living with his mum but she couldn't control him and he was apparently couchsurfing. Now he had a lot of free time to put more thought into his vendetta against Hannah and her new boyfriend. Skylar wanted to send a message to the boyfriend that Hannah belonged to him and him alone. In the agreed statement of facts, Skylar said his plan was named Project Zombify and shockingly it involved at least seven other teens,

some of whom Hannah considered to be friends who all had the shared goal of hurting or killing her new boyfriend. The plan was that they would band together to attack him. Skylar started to collect items for the group to use including baseball bats and knives for the attack itself and masks to conceal their identities. 16 year old Skylar even thought about forensics insisting on putting duct tape over shoes to conceal any footprints that might be left afterwards. While the group thought they were just planning an attack on Steven, Skylar said they had to be ready in case Hannah herself caught them and attempted to interfere. If this happened, Skylar said the plan was to knock her out unconscious. She would just be collateral damage. Skylar tried to get chloroform but he couldn't find any so purchased paint thinner to use instead. He also mentioned that he might cut the brake lines on her car.

The gang were ready. This was going to happen on Halloween and they had a solid plan. The plan was that Lucas would show up at Hannah's house while Steven was there and tell them both that he'd lost his cell phone and wanted them to go with him to help find it. Lucas would then take them both to the playground of a nearby elementary school where the project zombify gang of teenagers would be waiting to pounce and start the attack. They had all been assigned tasks. If Hannah and Steven tried to run, two of the teens were given the task of chasing them. Three of them were the ones who would dish out the beating with Lucas there to help. Not one of them thought to tell Skylar to just leave Hannah alone. Not one of them tried to stop him in his planning and nobody warned Hannah or told anyone else who might have been able to stop it. As it turned out, they found out that Hannah and her new boyfriend had broken up. The boyfriend was now a moot point and Skylar cancelled project zombify. The group decided to morph into a teenage crime gang called Hydra with the goal of doing random illegal stuff.

But for Skylar, now was his chance. Hannah was single and he wanted to try and get her back. He started messaging her again on Facebook as well as the communication feature on Xbox. In his agreed statement of facts, Skylar said that Hannah made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him and that he should leave her alone and let her move on. Unbeknownst to Hannah though, Skylar had a friend keeping tabs on her, even signing up for the same driver training class as her. The friend would make small talk with Hannah at the class and feed details of her personal life back to Skylar. Hannah also considered this boy to be a friend, so spoke openly with him. Hannah had blocked Skylar on social media, but in January of 2015 he created a fake account so he could view her Facebook profile. And on January the 11th he was snooping on her profile and saw a number of pictures and posts that indicated Hannah had a new boyfriend.

Hannah looked happy with someone else. Skylar said he suddenly realised that she'd moved on and they weren't going to reconcile. Just after midnight he made the decision that this would be the day that he was going to kill Hannah. That's where we'll leave it for Part 1. Part 2 will be released in a week and you'll find out exactly what happened to Hannah, what was revealed about Lucas and Skylar in their sentencing hearings and of course what happened afterwards. It'll also be available early and ad free for patrons. To find out more, just go to patreon.com. Thanks for listening. To play us out, here's Transition by Rob Nash, the musician and youth motivational speaker that Hannah loved so much, who dropped everything to attend her funeral. His team told me they were deeply touched by Hannah's story and were so honoured to be a small part of saying goodbye. And I can't help but try to say, I'm not gonna let you go, I can't call your name

Though it's what I'm used to, it's what I'm used to, it's what I used to do, it's what I used to do I can't take the blame, though it's what I'm used to And I can't go to the place where we used to And I can't run the route, here without you And I can't call your name Though it's what I'm used to, it's what I'm used to, it's what I used to do When I close my eyes to pray, just like we used to I can see your face, just like I used to

And I can't face the pain, but I'll never lose you Cause I know one day, I will see you And when I walk in the rain, I will miss you So I will call your name Cause that's what I'm used to, that's what I'm used to So that's what I'm gonna do, that's what I'm gonna do And that's what I'm gonna do, that's what I'm gonna do So I will close my eyes to pray, just like we used to