SERIALously - 227: WARNING: Canadian Version of Chris Watts | The Case of Robert Leeming

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

When Jasmine Lovett and her 22-month-old daughter, Aliyah Sanderson, vanish from Calgary, the search leads investigators to the stunning wilderness of Kananaskis Country—and to Jasmine's boyfriend, Robert Leeming. What begins as a missing person’s case unravels into a chilling tale of betrayal, violence, and shocking discoveries. What secrets did Robert Leeming try to bury, and how did they come to light? Ancient Nutrition Go to https://ancientnutrition.com/ae for 20% off your first order Shop the Merch: www.annieelise.com Follow the podcast on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ For Business Inquiries: [e-mail]  Sources: CBC Calgary News Calgary Harold Global News Red Deer Advocate Mirror Daily Hive Calgary Sun People The Canadian Press

I had no issues with them at all. But isn't it hard to believe that somebody would kill them? It's crazy. Of course it is. But you're saying that is not you. Of course not. Of course not. Hey true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise. Today's case is a wild one. Okay. This one has been literal like, I don't know, several, several months in the making.

And it's a notorious case in Canada because this guy is being dubbed as the Canadian Chris Watts. There are a lot of twists and turns throughout this case, a lot of details. I also want to just kind of put out a trigger warning ahead of time. It is definitely not an easy case to hear, but I'm going to break down everything for you from start to finish. So let's jump right in. In Calgary, Canada, on June 24th, 2017, Jasmine Lovett and Robby Sanderson welcomed their first child into the world, a daughter named Aliyah Lynn Sanderson. Aliyah was born early in the morning, and she was a very, very tiny baby, but she quickly became her parents' entire world. I mean, that's how it always happens, right? You have this baby, and your whole world just

shifts, and nothing else matters but this little baby. Now Jasmine and Robbie, they weren't married at the time and they were both also pretty young when Aliyah was born. I'm not sure Robbie's exact age, but Jasmine was in her early 20s. She was around 23 years old and she was absolutely a beautiful guy. She had this long dark hair, dark eyes, full lips, you know, a perfect little button nose with a bunch of freckles on her face. I mean, just truly stunning. Now, being a new parent is, of course, really difficult, no matter what age you are, 100%. But it was even tougher for them once they started having some issues in their relationship in addition to being newborn parents. So, Robbie began coming home later and later, leaving Jasmine all alone. Then he began coming home drunk, or maybe sometimes even high,

and then that escalated, and he began becoming aggressive. I'm not sure of the exact date of this incident, but one day, Robbie came home and was aggressively asking Jasmine for money. Now, she refused because she didn't know what he was planning to use this money for, and she was quite frankly worried, but Robbie would not take no for an answer. He was admin. to use this money for and she was quite frankly worried, but Robby would not take no for an answer. He was admin. He needed this money. So Jasmine, who was now worried about her safety and the safety of her young daughter, told him she would give him that money, but she needed to go upstairs, she needed to get her purse, and then she would bring it back down to him. But instead, she locked herself in the bathroom and she called the police. Now, somehow, Robbie found out what she was doing, and he completely lost his mind. He kicked down

the bathroom door, he grabbed the phone out of her hands, and was just completely irate. Thankfully, though, he didn't attack Jasmine, and pretty soon after he got the door down, he left the house entirely. But when the police arrived, he was absolutely nowhere to be found. And since Jasmine hadn't been harmed physically, they kind of told her that there wasn't really anything that they could do about what happened. Thankfully, though, even though they weren't able to do anything in that moment, Jasmine was able to obtain an emergency protection order. However, the protection order ended up being revoked 13 days later. This was after Jasmine and Robbie said that they were able to come to an agreement. They resolved their situation. They got over their differences. They came to this mutual agreement. They no longer needed this order. A lot of the information surrounding this situation is still

very vague, but we do know that Jasmine and Robbie ended up splitting up. And when they did, Jasmine received custody of Aliyah. So after this, it kind of seems like Robbie and Jasmine were able to maintain, you know, an amicable relationship, co-parenting and trying to make things just pleasant and peaceful. And like I said, Aliyah was Jasmine's entire life. And so she was absolutely fine with being, you know, the sole caretaker, the protector. Family had always been the most important thing to her. She had also always been very close with her mom Kim and her sister Genevieve. Now of the three of them, Jasmine was definitely the funny one. I don't know a whole lot about her childhood, but I do know that she love, love, loved pranking her family. And her favorite day of the year, of course, with that, was April Fool's Day. Now Jasmine

was not only funny, she was also incredibly kind. She was the kind of person who would literally give you the shirt off of her back. Her mom also said that she was the type of person who would, quote, take her last two dollars and spend it on you. She was just really generous, really warm, really genuine and kind. Traits that, of course, translated really well into Jasmine being a great mother now. Because on the one hand, she was fun. She loved joking around.

But on the other hand, she was fun. She loved joking around. But on the other hand, she was so comforting. She was such a loving mother, something that every child needs. I mean, truly such a great balance. So in 2018, after breaking up with Robbie, Jasmine decided to put herself back out there and she ended up signing up for a few dating sites, see if she could meet somebody new. And Jasmine caught the eye of a lot of guys, which was not too surprising because, again, she was beyond stunning. But she wasn't all that interested in the guys that were reaching out to her because nobody's really catching her eye. She was particular. I mean, she didn't want to let just any old kind of random into her life, especially now that she had

a daughter. This person had to be worthy in her eyes. Well, eventually, Jasmine did find somebody who met her very high standards. His name was Robert Leeming. Now, when he and Jasmine met, Robert was 34 years old, maybe even a little older, and Jasmine, as a reminder, was still in her mid-20s. So there definitely was an age gap there. I mean, nothing crazy about 10 years or so, but an age gap nonetheless. Robert had been born in the United Kingdom, but he traveled a lot during his childhood because his father worked in the military.

So as a result of that, because he was always bouncing from place to place and, you know, all over the place, he had a really difficult time making friends. And that was still an issue in his adult life now. However, he was able to come out of his shell online. He loved meeting new people in chat rooms where he didn't have to be so tightly wound, so self-conscious almost. And that's actually where he met his first wife. She was from Canada too, and when she and Robert met, she was studying to be a teacher. They ended up getting married in 2013, and Robert moved to be with her in Canada. The two of them had a son together, but unfortunately the relationship didn't last very long and they decided to call it quits in 2017 just a few years later. And Robert's now ex has full custody of their son with Robert having supervised visitation.

So even though Robert and his Canadian wife were separated, he was able to stay in Canada. He wasn't a citizen by any mean, but he did have what's called permanent residency, and that's because he had a job there. So he stayed and he worked as a mechanic, an HGV mechanic to be specific, which that stands for heavy goods vehicle. So after his marriage ended, Robert, like Jasmine, found himself on, you know, various dating sites, and he dated quite a few women before falling for Jasmine. Their relationship started in September of 2018, and then just a month later, Jasmine and Elia moved into Robert's home. Now, obviously, a month is pretty quick to go from

first date to living together, especially when there's a child involved. But other than that one big rush, that one big leap of faith, I guess you could call it, their relationship did seem pretty normal overall. And I think it's worth mentioning that the quick move-in date makes sense from a financial perspective, because obviously, we all know, especially this day and age or even the recent years, living with a partner can definitely be cheaper when you're splitting the rent. It's not like you need an extra bedroom the way that you would with a roommate, so you're able to split the cost of what normally one person is trying to absorb on their own. Not to mention, you're having somebody who's around to help out with chores, the grocery shopping, and of course, childcare and babysitting. I mean, it just makes things tremendously more helpful.

Now, it doesn't seem like Jasmine was working during this time. She was receiving child support from her ex, and she was focusing on taking care of Aliyah full time. And Robert just absolutely loved Aliyah and loved taking care of her. So, if Jasmine ever needed to get out of the house or run an errand or needed to do something, Robert was more than willing to watch Aliyah whenever she was gone. He wanted to help. He would cook, he would clean, he would play with her. He was just a great person for Jasmine to be with because he loved her daughter so much, almost as much as she loved her. So like I mentioned previously, Jasmine was pretty close with her family.

She met up with her mom and sister pretty often for family dinners. And then once Robert was in the picture, he would join these family dinners as well. Jasmine's family thought that the relationship was really normal, was good, they liked him. However, her sister, Genevieve, wasn't really happy with how quickly everything was moving. She had some reservations, some hesitation there. But she saw how well Robert was treating Jasmine and Aliyah, and that's really all that mattered. That's what mattered the absolute most. So one night, Robert, Jasmine, and Aliyah met up with Jasmine's family for dinner.

It was April 14th, 2019. The dinner was pretty normal, but Genevieve thought that maybe Robert and Jasmine seemed a little bit distant from one another more than usual. So at the end of the dinner, Jasmine and Genevieve made plans to go meet up for dinner again on April 19th, which was Good Friday. And you know how that goes. It's like you leave and you're like, when should we do this again? I don't know, let's look at the calendar, let's set a date. It was that kind of thing.

So then the 19th rolls around, but Jasmine never showed up for dinner with her sister. She tried texting and calling Jasmine over and over again, but Jasmine didn't answer. And that was very concerning for a lot of reasons, but mainly because Jasmine would never miss a dinner with her sister. And she would also never just not reply to her text messages or her phone calls. Genevieve even tried messaging her on Facebook, but all of those messages were marked as undelivered.

So it was so concerning that Genevieve went over to Jasmine and Robert's house around 5 p.m. that evening. And when she did, she noticed that the basement light was turned on. So she figured, okay, somebody has to be home, right? The basement light is on. So she knocked on the door, but there was no answer. So she waited, she knocked again, still nothing. So she rang the doorbell multiple times, and it was like the house was empty. So that definitely didn't make Genevieve feel any better. But eventually she didn't get an answer, so she left. I mean, what else was she going to do?

And a couple of days later on April 21st, Jasmine's mom Kim went over to Jasmine and Robert's house. She wanted to check out what was going on. Like Genevieve, Kim hadn't been able to get in contact with Jasmine. And her visit was basically just a repeat of what had happened with Jasmine's sister. visit was basically just a repeat of what had happened with Jasmine's sister. She was knocking, she was ringing the bell, all of the things, but there was

no response. Now, one difference, though, this time around when her mom went there, is that before she left, Kim noticed that there were two pairs of sneakers near the front door of the home. It looked like one pair had been recently cleaned and they were soaking wet, so it looked as though somebody had done like a deep clean on them. But anyway, she noticed that and then left. And now it was pretty clear that nobody was going to get a hold of Jasmine the traditional way through calls or text messages or even, you know, now in-person visits. So later that day, Kim taped a note to the front door of the home. It's not clear what that note exactly said,

but she put the note on the door, hoping that that would be a way to get in touch with Jasmine, or at the very least, she could track it and see if anybody had read it and pulled it off the door. So now four days have gone by, and on April 23rd, Jasmine was supposed to meet her mom and sister for another dinner. Now, even though they hadn't been able

to get into contact with her, they were still expecting her, at least hoping that she would show up and, you know, explain what had happened, that this was all just a huge misunderstanding. But she didn't turn up at any point during the evening. So they knew that they had to do something because this was so unlike Jasmine. They were beyond worried at this point. So Genevieve went to the police station to file a missing persons report, and she was really open with the officers because why wouldn't she? I mean, she had nothing to hide. She wanted them to have all of the information that they could possibly ever need to find her sister, so she let them search her phone, ask her questions, do anything. Initially, the detectives

asked her if Jasmine could have just left on her own, but she assured them she would never ever do something like that. She cared about her family way too much to just disappear without a trace, and especially to not answer calls or texts or anything. So they also asked Genevieve if Jasmine's ex, Robbie, could have had something to do with her disappearance. I'm not quite sure how they came to that conclusion or what evidence they were going off of, but I do know that they did decide to rule him out. So Genevieve told the officers that things had been a little bit weird between Jasmine and her current partner, Robert. She had mentioned how she appreciated how loving Robert was toward Jasmine, her daughter,

but that their relationship had gotten a little bit weird and kind of seemed a little bit strained. And I mentioned before how Genevieve thought that it kind of seemed off at the last family dinner that they all had where the tension was there or the vibes just weren't quite right. There was almost like a little bit of distance between them. But as it turned out, that wasn't all that was going on. And Genevieve knew a lot more about things that had gone down in the past few months. A lot more. See, in December of 2018, Jasmine had texted her sister and told her that she and Robert were not in a good place. They had actually broken up, but she said they had made the decision that they were going to continue to live together as roommates.

Which, weird, but okay. I get that it's not easy to find a place and move out with no warning, especially when there's a toddler involved, but I can't imagine that that would be comfortable. But then, a few weeks later, Jasmine told Genevieve they got back together. They worked out their issues. Jasmine also told Genevieve that she had gotten pregnant, and not only that, but she terminated the pregnancy. It's not entirely clear to me where that part fits into the timeline, if it was part of the reason they broke up or maybe got back together or a separate issue entirely. But obviously, it was information that was worth sharing with the police now. Maybe it would lead them somewhere.

So a couple of months after that conversation, Jasmine told her sister that she was really stressed about money. Robbie had given up all of his rights as far as Eliya was concerned, and that meant he didn't have to pay child support anymore. And it now meant instead that Jasmine needed to find a job, and she needed to start supporting both of them. Which has actually kind of worked out well, because in fact, she told her sister that she was sick of being home all the time. She was ready to be around other adults, be productive, and get into working society and, like, talk to other adults, things like that. She even

felt jealous whenever Robert got to leave the house every day to go to work. She just, unfortunately at this point, hadn't managed to find a job yet, so it was stressing her out. So she wanted the job, but she couldn't find one yet. So again, there was very little reason to think that Jasmine would have just taken off when all of the signs prior to that day were looking like she was actually trying to settle down more, get a job, put Ruth's down, things like that. Thankfully, the detectives took Genevieve at her word, and this wasn't some sort of like possible runaway kind of case. Nothing like that. They started searching for Jasmine right away. And in no time at all, they had worked out a timeline of her disappearance. So like I mentioned before, Jasmine and Aliyah were

at their family dinner on April 14th. Then they appeared on CCTV footage on April 15th at a local grocery store. Everything on the tape looked normal. Aliyah was in her stroller. Jasmine paid for her groceries itself checkout. Then they left. Then on April 16th, Robert. Aliyah was in her stroller. Jasmine paid for her groceries at self-checkout. Then they left. Then on April 16th, Robert dropped Aliyah off at daycare. This was at 7-12 a.m. Then he went to go pick her up at 4-46 p.m. Now the problem with that was Robert wasn't officially listed on the pick-up list for

her. So he had to call Jasmine so that she could give the okay to the daycare employees and they could release Aliyah to go home with Robert. But then after that, Aliyah and Jasmine were never seen or heard from again. However, Jasmine's credit card was used on April 18th to order food delivery. It wasn't clear whether Jasmine was the one who actually ordered the food or maybe if somebody else got their hands on her card and they're the ones who ordered food. But either way, the police were confident now that Robert was the last person who had spent any time with either of them.

And given what Genevieve had told them about the tension in their relationship with Jasmine, I mean, it seemed pretty fair to question him, right? Partner, the spouse, they've broken up. There was turmoil now. Seems relevant. So they went to his home the next day on April 24th and did a welfare check. They knocked, they knocked. It was kind of like Groundhog's Day. They were just like knocking, but nobody was answering.

And that note that Jasmine's mom had left up on the door a few days earlier was still there. And not only that, but the window on the front door was now covered with something. And it looked like it was cellophane, you know, that like clear plastic thing that you use to wrap gifts sometimes. And it was the only window in the house that was covered. And it made it absolutely impossible to see inside this house. So they kept on knocking, kept on ringing the doorbell, but nobody answered. ringing the doorbell, but nobody answered. So they just waited. Eventually, one officer noticed that a car's trunk liner was lying over the air conditioner and it was drying out. It was wet, and it obviously had been recently cleaned. They also noticed that the garden hose was unwound,

so they figured somebody must have used that to rinse down the trunk liner. But then also remember, it immediately takes you back to when her mom first went to the house and she saw that those sneakers had been washed recently and they were soaking wet. Not a good sign, right? A lot of things that point to a possible cleanup. But the other thing that I think that's really important about this is that the house had not been abandoned. Somebody had to have been home putting all of this stuff outside and cleaning all of

this stuff. It was just a matter of the police getting inside. However, they couldn't do that through a welfare check alone and through this locked door. They couldn't even see through the front door's window, and the rest of the windows were all on the top floors, so it's not easy to see into those from the ground. Except these police officers decided that they were going to get very creative. They ended up calling the fire department, and they brought one of those ladder trucks. So they used that to then go peer into these top floor windows. But when they did, they didn't see anything. However, almost as soon as that fire truck arrived, the lights downstairs turned on. And finally, Robert opened the front door,

and he let the police officers come inside. So now they were asking him, in addition to what took you so long, where is Jasmine? How's it going? She says she's with her sister. Well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Hmm well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense So sir you're Robert, okay So Have we been here for hours and hours and hours now, hey. Banging on your door and bringing out the doorbell.

All in here for a long time. I've been drinking and smoking hot, so. Okay. So, she's not with her sister. What do you mean? Well that's the reason that we're here. Why do you think we're here? Because the family's calling us saying we haven't heard from our daughter and our sister.

Yeah, that makes sense. Okay that makes sense? Yeah. Okay why does that make sense? Because I haven't had some there either. Okay. So do you guys get in some sort of argument? Well, not that you're aware of, like you're not making a whole lot of sense. No, like, like, like, I don't know what...

that you're aware of, like you're not making a whole lot of sense. Like, like, like, I don't know what. Well, what? Sorry. I'm. Still getting my bearings here. So she's not with her family. But she did threaten to move out. But she did threaten to move out. I don't know, like three weeks ago we got into a tizzy. She threw a bunch of my stuff out, food, stuff like that.

And I had a discontent about that. But nothing like that would concern me. Nothing that would concern you? Okay. Like, I mean, I've had people living with me before and they move out. Right, but this isn't just like a roommate, this is your girlfriend. No, it's this is your girlfriend. Nice, more roommate than girlfriend. Okay.

She's more of a roommate than a girlfriend. Yeah. Okay, so the last time that you saw Jasmine was when? Thursday. Okay, and at that time you guys were A-okay or fighting or what was the status? I would say in the air. Judging by what obviously has gone down. Her's not here. So. So what makes you believe that she's with her sister? He told me that she was going to go and spend Easter with them on Tuesday.

He was talking about it because I don't have my son so you know it's kind of depressed about that. Just, you know, drink, love drinking a lot. But weekend, I've been on my own, right? Okay. Does she have a card? No, she doesn't have a license. This is for mom? We gotta phone her for the sister. No, I'll have to phone mom and start digging digging but that doesn't drive.

What's this ran out for? Just privacy. Privacy. Did you see the note on the door? I did now. Okay. I'm gonna go make the call to momma. mom and try and get some more info. It was especially weird that he said Jasmine was more like a roommate than a girlfriend. But in Robert's defense, too, apparently there was a chance that they really weren't together

at this point. It's hard for me to say because I've read Conflicting Things Online, but it seems like there was some disagreement around the story that Jasmine had told Genevieve about how she and Robert had broken up and then decided to just be roommates, but then got back together, things like that. It sounds like there's the possibility that they didn't actually get back together at all, that they stayed broken up as roommates, and maybe that Jasmine was just telling Genevieve these stories about getting back together because she was embarrassed. Maybe she didn't want to be judged that she was still living there.

Maybe she was hoping that she and Robert would reconcile. Maybe there was some wishful thinking on her part. It's unclear. But regardless, the police weren't trying to get to the bottom of the exact nature of Jasmine and Robert's relationship. It was just a welfare check, just a time to see if she was okay. And the officers didn't know, because there was no sign of her or Lya in the house at all. But they were able to take a closer look at Robert, and they were also able to dig into some of his past, especially given how weird he acted that entire time. It turns out that when

Robert and his ex divorced, she claimed that it was due to emotional abuse. She said that Robert neglected her. He gaslit her. He emotionally mistreated her. He would call her crazy all the time, and then towards the end of the relationship, he was also apparently drinking quite a bit. She also reported that Robert had a personal gun and knife collection. And not only that, but that this collection was growing. So the amount of guns that he was buying, combined with his excessive drinking and his anger issues, I mean, it had her pretty worried for her safety,

and also for her son's safety, which I would say that's for good reason. The police also discovered that Robert's ex had reported him for animal abuse. Robert had taken the dog that they owned together, brought him to a park, and then tied him to a tree without any food or any water. Thankfully, somebody at the park found this dog, and they brought him to the Humane Society to be taken care of. Robert was charged with animal abuse, and he pled guilty to three of the charges. Those charges were causing an animal to be in distress, failing to provide an animal

with food and water, and also failing to provide an animal with shelter. Now he didn't go to jail over this, but he did have to pay a fine of five grand and he was also banned from owning animals for 10 years, which I didn't even know that that was a thing. I mean, I get that like Michael Vick, all of that stuff, but like I didn't even know that that was a thing. I mean, I get that, like, Michael Vick, all of that stuff, but, like, I didn't know that you could be charged for not giving an animal food and water. It makes sense now that I think about it, but I guess I've just never really heard any instances like that. But in any event, and I've never heard that you would be banned from owning animals, because how would you exactly track that?

I don't know. So, during the divorce hearings, his ex also brought up some very bizarre internet searches that she found on his phone. One was about chaining a dog to a tree and leaving him there, but another search was about a mother and a child dying in a house fire. So obviously that left her feeling very scared, because if Robert had searched the dog thing and then went through with it, what was to stop him from trying to go through with this next search and hurt her and her son by setting the house on fire or doing something similar? So now, given all of this new information and just how weird Robert had been acting, the police decided to return to Robert's home on April 25th. And this time, they arrested him in connection with Jasmine and Aliyah's disappearances.

And this time, they arrested him in connection with Jasmine and Elia's disappearances. And then they brought him into the station for a formal interrogation. The human body really is amazing. It can repair, rebuild, and adapt in ways that still blow our minds, even now in 2025. But as you get older, those natural processes do slow down. And let's be real, if you're like me, we start to feel it. That's why I've been using Ancient Nutrition's multi-collagen advanced lean, and I've genuinely noticed a difference. Ancient Nutrition combines the best of the ancient wisdom and modern science to create

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They asked Robert about the last time that he saw Jasmine and Elia. He said that on April 17th, they all went on a picnic near Bragg Creek, which is about 30 minutes from Robert's home. Then afterward, they went back to the house. Jasmine sat on the couch in the living room, was watching some TV while Robert apparently was getting ready for a date, because again, remember he said that he and Jasmine were

just roommates at this point. In fact, according to Robert, he had been seeing a different woman for quite a while now. So he said before he left for his date, everything with Jasmine seemed fine. But then, she and Elia were gone when he got home later that evening. The investigators were really surprised, though, to hear that Robert was dating other women. Again, they had heard from Jasmine's family that Robert and Jasmine were a couple and a fairly serious one at that.

So they contacted the woman that Robert said he went on a date with that night, which we will just call her KJ. And she confirmed that she was with Robert that night. So the police asked her some follow-up questions, and KJ said that she and Robert met online in February of 2019. So we're talking about five months or so after Jasmine and Aliyah moved in with Robert. They went on some dates, and he occasionally stayed over at KJ's house, so it wasn't like he was trying to hide the relationship,

except KJ told the police that she had never been to Robert's house. And when she would ask him why she couldn't come to his place, he always said that his room was messy and that he had a roommate. And he apparently told KJ that the only way that they could ever sleep over at his house was if they slept in his car in the garage.

And he also described Jasmine as his tenant to KJ, not his girlfriend. Now, to my mind, that's actually a point in favor of the idea that Jasmine and Robert were still together, because he probably didn't want to get caught cheating, so of course that's the reason he refused to let KJ come over, right? Now, I don't know if the officers were picking up on what I'm picking up when I first heard this, but I do know that even with this, they didn't think that they could prove that he had anything to do with Jasmine and Elias' disappearance. They were still suspicious, but they couldn't hold him for much longer. So Robert was released. However, his car and his cell phone were seized. They also got a search warrant for his townhouse and told him that he couldn't go home until they were done going through everything. So they conducted their search over the next couple of days. They also looked at his

cell phone data. And when they did, that's where they saw that on April 23rd, the day that Jasmine and Aliyah were reported missing, Robert deleted around 30 photos of the two of them. He also deleted a few photos of a gun around the same time. His phone's location data also showed that he was in the Bragg Creek area around the time that Jasmine and Aliyah went missing. Now remember, he said that's where they went to have a picnic, but that was prior to when Jasmine and her daughter went missing. So the police decided they needed to go to this creek area. They needed to check it out. So when they went and searched the area, they found a makeshift fire pit that looked as though

it had been recently used. And it wasn't just used to burn charcoal for hot dogs or s'mores or anything like that. In fact, when the police searched the fire pit, they found the seatbelt from a car seat, diapers, toddler shoes that were Elia size, parts of children's books, and also a Jungle Book DVD. They brought sent dogs to the area and the dogs alerted in a way that told them that a fire accelerant had been used in that fire pit. And CCTV footage from a local gas station showed Robert filling up his car and then also filling up a gas can and later going through a car wash.

On top of that, the search of his home was very strange, to say the least. The police couldn't get through that front door because it had been barricaded with two long poles. The front window was still covered in that cellophane. And then there were multiple spots on the walls that looked like they had been sanded down and cleaned. They also discovered that the master bedroom had a pin code lock on the door. Which, that's not a good sign. A lock on the bedroom door? Sure. But a pin code lock? Something feels weird here.

I don't think it's unfair at all to say that this was strange. It was beyond weird. They also found a plastic hammer that was filled with sand, which I guess it's the kind of hammer that is used to fix dents in cars. I'm not really sure. But in addition to that, there were also multiple boxes with blue moving blankets. I mean, something just didn't feel right. Now beforehand, the police had found footage of Robert going back and forth to the garage. So they decided that they needed to search there.

And when they did, they spotted a gun safe, and it contained multiple guns, multiple boxes of ammos, I mean, you name it. And in the trash cans in the garage, they found a partially melted firearm part. They also found infant toys, Jasmine's prescription bottles, Jasmine's passport, which had been shredded. I mean, this was looking more like a dump site than a regular trash can. And that wasn't even the weirdest thing that they found. Not at all.

There were pieces of bacon scattered all over the house. Literally raw strips of bacon, just thrown all over the place. One piece was found draped over the dining room chair. One piece was found in the garage. Another was in the room where the furnace was. And then an empty bacon package was just sitting there in the kitchen. But you know what wasn't in that house?

After all the weird things, the bacon, the everything, there was no sign of Jasmine or Aliyah. Still, the police did feel good about announcing to the public that Robert was their main suspect. On Tuesday, April 23rd, we received a report that a young mother and her daughter are missing. We now believe that we're investigating a double homicide. The last place anyone saw either of the two was in the community of Cranston on the evening of Tuesday, April 16, 2019. We have Jasmine's bank card being used for

an online purchase on the 18th, but we still can't determine if that was her who was purchasing. And police responded to her residence in the community of Cranston the night of April 23rd based on concerns from her immediate family that she failed to show for a pre-planned family dinner. We took a suspect into custody for questioning this morning. No charges have been laid as of yet. We do not believe this incident to be random because the suspect and the victims knew each other. We are currently working with multiple other agencies to search the community of Cranston

and the area around Bragg Creek for evidence. The crime scene unit is at a residence in the community of Cranston. Through the investigative process, we have determined that the area around Bragg Creek may have been of interest for further investigation. So we're working with search and rescue and many external agencies to search areas that are obviously very wooded and mountainous in that area.

Any investigation involving a child is extremely difficult. A lot of the members within the homicide units have children themselves. As a result of the investigation, we believe the suspect may have attempted to destroy evidence related to the homicide by means of burning sometime between Tuesday, April 16th and Saturday, April 20th. This occurred in the area of Bragg Creek, Elbow Falls, Prytus, and or East Kananaskis. Anyone who may have signs of a suspicious fire in an unusual place not in a designated fire pit is asked to contact police. We continue to seek witnesses to the movements of a gray Mercedes SUV in the same area. A forensic search of the home

in Crescent has been completed and the residence has now been released to the homeowner. The search of the Brad Creek area will resume once snow accumulation has melted. Members of the public are advised not to attempt a search on their own during this time period as it could result in accidental destruction of evidence under the snow. However, police continue to seek public assistance with any information about the movement of the gray SUV or fires in the area during the week of April 16. Obviously, we keep an open mind in any investigation,

but the person that was taken into police custody last week remains our prime suspect. And while the police were still searching Robert's home and all of his stuff, reporters tracked him down while he was just kind of out and about running errands or something. And he was not afraid to talk and about running errands or something. And he was not afraid to talk to them. Not at all.

You were kind of the primary suspect in this homicide investigation. I still am. You still are. What are your thoughts about that and what are your emotions right now? What's kind of going through your head? It's very stressful, but I hope they will be found and I hope we can move forward from this. No, we were friends, absolutely friends, and supporting each other. I would like, obviously, for them to be found

and for me to be clear about this. How do you feel about this whole thing? I mean, terrible. Of course. But to know the police are calling this a homicide, to know that someone has killed a 22-month-old child. It's crazy. But you're saying that is not you.

Of course not. Of course not. Of course, I took care of her her and she's a great kid and I had no issues with them at all. But isn't it hard to believe that somebody would kill them? It's crazy. Of course it is. But you're saying that is not you. Of course not. Of course not.

So why is it- Of course not. So why is it? Who says that they're dead? That's crazy. I don't know where they are. He said that while the police had been searching his home and his car, he had just been, you know, casually hanging out at bars, which you can tell by the way that he was talking, in my opinion too, that he had been drinking.

According to Robert, that had been his life for the past three days. Everybody thought he was some kind of kidnapper or murderer, and he had lost his job. His friends had all turned on him. He had no money. He had nothing to do all day but just drink each and every day. He also complained that the police had destroyed his house and made a huge mess all over the place. He says he hired a lawyer because, according to Robert, he was innocent, and he thought that he needed some help proving that. And that's when someone anonymously came forward to the police. This person was close with Robert, and they said that Robert was known to be a loose cannon and to just behave erratically. And the investigators believed it because they

already had all these weird interactions with him, right? So it was one more little detail and piece of information that made him look very suspicious. But still, there was not enough evidence and not enough information to press any sort of charges on him. So now the police decided to go forward with a new strategy. And on May 5th, two undercover officers approached Robert on the street near his home. When they did, they said, You're the dude from the news. You're like a fucking rock star.

Oh my gosh. Nice to meet you. And Robert replied with, Hardly. There's nothing good about my effing life right now. I'll tell you that much. Well the officers just kept sort of praising him, giving him this ego boost. They said, you know, we think that you're innocent, but you should know one of your

neighbors was sneaking around your house while the police were doing their search. praising him, giving him this ego boost. They said, you know, we think that you're innocent, but you should know one of your neighbors was sneaking around your house while the police were doing their search. Which to be clear, that wasn't true at all, but I guess they thought that he would trust them more if they told him some sort of like BS story that was trying to help him out or something. So according to these undercover officers,

the neighbors had found a bag of evidence, had stolen it, and then had given it to the two of them. Then they asked Robert if he wanted to go with them to get a beer, talk over their options, talk about destroying this evidence, which he agreed to. And a few times during this conversation, Robert asked them, hey, are you guys cops? Are you just trying to trick me? But they assured him that they weren't.

You heard and seen what was happening in the room. So they started telling Robert stories about how they were part of a crime group, like a gang. And naturally, this meant that they had a criminal background. They also went on and on about how terrible cops were, how awful they are, and they started giving Robert advice on how he could really make the police stop suspecting him. And then eventually, they asked Robert if he wanted to go to their warehouse where they kept all of their guns. And it was kind of made out to be like this warehouse was like their secret hideout of sorts.

But Robert fell for it. He agreed. And they all drove to that warehouse. There, the undercover officers showed him this arsenal of guns that they had, still trying to gain his trust, still trying to really prove that they were these criminals. And eventually, after seeing that, Robert started opening up. He told them that when he and Jasmine had been dating, he had cheated on her, because according to him, that's what, you know, every single guy does. Every guy cheats. Which, I don't think that that's true of every single guy, but I'll be honest, I can think of a lot of exceptions,

but anyway. So he tells them, we started dating and I was cheating on her. And he claimed that Jasmine wasn't happy in their relationship because of this. She wanted to get married, but he didn't. So he told these officers, women man, they always want more, right? Tell me when that ever stops with a chick. When does it ever stop? From what I understand, she pretty much even told her family. And then, after complaining and talking about cheating and all of this stuff, he just flat out confessed.

Just confessed to these two men that he just met a few hours earlier. Now, he didn't exactly say how he killed Jasmine or her daughter, but he did tell them that after killing the two of them, he used his phone to look at what remote areas were nearby. When he did, he settled on Bragg Creek, and then he drove there to scope everything out. However, he says he waited until the very next day to hide the bodies. When he decided to hide them, he brought them to the woods

near Bragg Creek. He hid them, and then he drenched them in gasoline. He didn't burn their bodies, but he did hope that the gasoline would throw off any cadaver dogs from finding them. He also said that he made a makeshift fire pit to burn all of Jasmine and Elias' personal belongings. He said he burned things like Elias' car seat, other personal items that belonged to them, all to make it look like Jasmine had really taken her and run away. Then he covered his backseat in mulch, and he also used the mulch to cover the bodies in the woods,

and he told these officers, well, mulch is death, right? So it smells like death. Now from that, it almost sounds like he thought that the smell of the mulch would again throw off the cadaver dogs, kind of like how he had hoped that the gasoline would also throw them off. But one thing that was pretty consistent for Robert was he was very concerned about these cadaver dogs. That's why he also apparently had all that bacon all over his house. But his thinking wasn't just like,

oh, it's this delicious fatty meaty treat. These dogs will love it, it will distract them. He actually put a lot of thought into this because according to Robert, pork smells similar to human flesh. So he figured that the bacon wouldn't just throw the dogs off because it was food, he actually thought that it would somehow stop them from detecting Jasmine and Alaia. And I mean, it sounded so thought out and so carefully planned after all, he went very far to try and cover his ass after these deaths. So when these undercover officers asked if he had cleaned up his car afterward too, because

of all this, all the mulch, all of everything, Robert replied and said, oh yeah. He also said, it's funny, because they were telling me about my Mercedes, and they pretty much can hook up the computer in the car and know exactly where I've been, but my car, it's just too old. If it was a 2018, then I would be in jail. So it was almost as though he was gloating. He was explaining all of this, kind of gloating how he was so much smarter than the police. And then after he explained all of it, Robert said that he was going to show the officers where he hid Jasmine and Elias bodies. What are we looking for?

Them? Yeah. So they drove to the Bragg Creek area in the middle of the night and Robert took them to the bodies. It wasn't too far from where that weird fire pit was and both of the bodies were wrapped in those same blue moving blankets and they were buried underneath the dirt, sticks, and mulch. Which, it's so interesting to me that he was so wanting to brag and boast about what he had done. So much so, not only that he just admitted to these strangers, essentially, what he had done, but let me

show you my handiwork. Which we know killers love to rebel in the crime, and they like often return to the scene of the crime crime or they keep trophies and things like that. But like to bring somebody else there who's literally a stranger, that's how proud he was, which is really unnerving. Obviously, all of this information was enough for the police to immediately arrest Robert. The Calgary Police Department also held a press conference, but they didn't immediately tell the public exactly who was arrested or that they had conducted this undercover investigation. ...4 a.m this morning, members of the CPS located the bodies of a woman and child in Cananascus. On behalf of the entire police service, we'd like to extend our heartfelt

condolences to the Lovett and Sanderson families. Jasmine would have celebrated her 26th birthday last week, and this is truly a tragic loss. Earlier today, a man was taken into custody and charges of second-degree murder are currently pending. The suspect cannot be named by the police until charges are officially laid by the Justice of the Peace. This is expected to occur later today or really tomorrow morning. However, I can confirm that the suspect is the same man who was taken into custody two weeks ago. This has been a lengthy and complex investigation. I will share what details I can with you, but please keep in mind that our primary goal at this point is to see this

case through the conclusion in court. And to do that successfully, we must maintain the integrity of the evidence and limit what information is shared publicly from this point on. We believe their bodies were subsequently transported by the suspect to the Grizzly Creek area sometime between Wednesday, April 17th and Saturday, April 20th. We believe the suspect and Jasmine were in a relationship and this was a target attack motivated by domestic related matters. I can tell you that the investigative process picked up momentum and over the last few days which led us to locate the bodies early this morning. locate the bodies early this morning.

The area where the bodies were located did not have as much snow as the Brad Creek area. I can tell you that officers have worked every day to bring this case to a successful conclusion. I wouldn't say searching but investigating and through the investigative process we were confident that bodies would have been certain clarify what you said that you believe suspect and his love it were in a relationship. Yes. Can you just say what what what could have gone wrong? You said it was a domestic. Yeah, and I'll just leave it. It was a domestic relationship which deteriorated over a period of time. Obviously we're still investigating. Um, and it will be up to the investigative team to determine if further search warrants will be executed at the residence. Was the vehicle ever returned to the suspect?

It's still in police custody pending further warrants. Have tips from the public been helpful? We have received over 250 tips from the public and obviously the tips have been combed through and we encourage anyone with any information to call police. And is he the only suspect in the case? Right now we have determined that there are no other alternative suspects. You've talked about this throughout the course of this investigation. How difficult it's been on officers.

Well, obviously, I think I mentioned in the first press release that there are a lot of similarities in this case to other domestic homicides that our officers have investigated. I can tell you that the officers that were in Cananascus last night obviously had a very difficult time when they discovered the bodies. When was the last time you were in conversation with the law-abuse Anderson family? We're in daily conversation with the victims' families. And at what point did you contact them? Before we let the media know. How much similarities have been established between this case and the case of Kanya? Was also, I guess, murdered by... I think when you look at motive, deteriorating r

violence, you'll find som the police department conf that the bodies were Jasm had multiple blunt force a bullet wound on the lef behind her ear. Aliyah al force injuries to her he. She also had one on the back. And she also had a spinal injury. Both of their deaths were ruled as homicide.

So that's why they felt good about going after him for murder charges, rather than something milder like manslaughter. And on May 7th, Robert was officially charged with two counts of second degree murder. The prosecutors thought about trying to charge him with first-degree murder, but they didn't think that there was enough evidence to prove that Robert had premeditated these killings, so they wanted to just make sure that they would have a strong conviction.

And his trial began in October of 2021. He actually pleaded guilty to Jasmine's murder, but he said he did not kill Aliyah. His defense team argued that on April 17th, Robert picked up Aliyah from daycare and brought her home. Jasmine was gone, so he played with Aliyah. She watched that TV show, The Wiggles. They were all just hanging out.

But at one point, she apparently wanted to go to the kitchen, which was upstairs. And as she was walking up the stairs, she fell backward and hit her head. But he says she got up and she seemed fine, so they ate dinner together, they watched some more TV together, and then Robert put her to bed. Then he went outside and he smoked a cigarette and made himself a drink. Jasmine came home soon after, at around 7, and at 9pm she went upstairs to check on Aliyah and she found that she wasn't breathing and she was unresponsive in her bed. And according to Robert, Jasmine became enraged.

Hello, of course, she's a protective mother. So she started yelling at him. She started accusing him of killing Aliyah. But that made him angry. And he says he took that hammer and hit her on the head until she fell to the floor. Then he went and got a gun and he shot her to make sure that she was really dead. Then he grabbed a blue moving blanket from downstairs and wrapped Jasmine's body up in that blanket, and then he used a towel to clean up all the blood.

He threw the towels away, made himself another drink, and then he fell asleep. Over the next couple of days, he buried their bodies and he burned as many things as possible. The autopsy had showed much more serious injuries though around Aliyah's head and spinal cord. It wasn't really in line with a fall on the stairs. And that wasn't all that came out in that report. The medical examiner also found injuries in her genital area, and it suggested that she had been being sexually harmed. So the prosecutors believed that when Jasmine got home on April 17th, she caught Robert in the act. She freaked out and Robert killed her to stop her from telling anybody what she had found him doing.

Then he had no other choice, they think, but to kill Elia and make up the story about her falling down the stairs all to cover his tracks. And I have to say that does go in line with what we have heard from Jasmine's family about Robert always doting on Aliyah, picking her up, cooking for her, doing all these things. Not to say that a good man and a good stepparent can't do that, but maybe he was showing a little bit too much interest in her, especially when the medical examiner did report that there were injuries in her private area consistent with that. So the lawyers thought that it was pretty notable that Robert never denied killing Aliyah either when he was talking to those undercover cops,

although now he was making it seem like he didn't kill her on purpose. The idea is that generally people will be very quick to deny killing children because that crime is seen as even more horrific than killing an adult. So they argued that if Elia truly did die in an accident, Robert would have made sure that everybody knew that. In court, the prosecutor said, You didn't once say I didn't kill the kid, it was an accident. You didn't tell them the story you told this court. Everyone thinks that's one of the worst things you can do. And you didn't once, not once, take the opportunity to tell these guys that it was all an accident.

Now Robert was the only witness for the defense. And he told that same story that he had been repeating. Aliyah fell down the stairs. She hit her head. She died in her sleep. Then Jasmine discovered her dead daughter. She freaked out. Robert says he didn't call for help because he couldn't find his phone. And that Jasmine just started blaming him for Aliyah's death, and that's when he killed her. Which, hello, that is not a good excuse. Especially because Robert did, in fact, have his phone with him. The entire time. And the police knew what time he had killed Jasmine and Aliyah, and they also knew that he was texting his, you know, sidepiece KJ right before then.

So this wasn't even a good lie. Robert waived his right to a jury trial, so the judge ended up finding him guilty of second-degree murder for Aliyah. He said that Robert was not a credible witness, that he couldn't be trusted, and that he had no doubt that Robert had done this on purpose. Specifically, the judge said, her injuries were not accidental. He meant to cause Elia's death or meant to cause bodily harm to Elia, and that was likely what caused her death. So why would he not use his best efforts

to find Elia help? Instead, he went downstairs, made himself a drink, and had a cigarette. Robert was given an automatic life sentence with a chance of parole in 22 years. Jasmine's family was satisfied with Robert's sentence though, and her mom Kim said 22 years without eligibility for parole is really good. Obviously 200 years is not going to bring them back, but we're pleased. We feel that justice has been served. Justice for Jasmine and justice for alaya ve relieved. I think I held time. Yeah. Um, I actually

hug the judge, but I know super weird. So yeah, um, not the best word, right. that we got justice and relieved that it's over. His options and demeanor were nothing but disturbing. Yeah, at one point they thought he was falling asleep. So we stopped for a little bit to wake him up. Oh, we can go back to healing and just getting on with our lives and not having to think about coming here.

Not have to worry about what the decision will be. Yeah, that's a big relief. In 2022, Robert appealed his conviction. He still said he didn't kill Aliyah and he said, the point of my argument was that the medical pathologist, the doctor who did the autopsy, could not rule out that there was an accidental fall down the stairs. For example autopsy, could not rule out that there was an accidental fall down the stairs. For example, one that could have caused the injuries to the child's brain that ultimately caused her death. There was a reasonable alternative that existed.

During his trial, the medical examiner did testify it was possible that Aliyah could have just really landed badly on the stairs, and it was possible for her head and spinal injuries to all be from an accident. But they ultimately ruled that Elias' death was the result of a homicide, because if she had fallen down the stairs, she would have also had injuries to her arms and her legs, which she didn't. So, on July 23rd, 2024, Robert lost his appeal, and his conviction was upheld. As for Jasmine and Eli's families, they have been working very hard to spread awareness about domestic disputes and ones that turn violent. They raised

$25,000 and gave that money to the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter. They also started a memorial scholarship in Jasmine's name through the charity Gems for Gems, a Calgary-based non-profit that is committed to empowering women who survived domestic issues like these. And I'll just say, it always touches me when families and loved ones channel their grief and their anger into helping victims, future victims, whether it's a foundation, an organization, a donation, whatever it is, education, self-defense classes, whatever, to be able to harness all of that, trying to help other people,

I think is just incredibly powerful. And I would imagine that that would also help you a little bit in the grieving process, knowing that they're not dying in vain and that their legacy will continue. So that being said, thank you for listening to Jasmine and Elias' story. I hope that Robert does not get parole after 22 years. I think he is the worst of the worst and I guess they couldn't prove it, but I do wonder why he wasn't charged with any sort of sex crimes against her daughter.

If the medical examiner did see the indications of that, but maybe there wasn't enough to prove that, but I don't know. But to me, I don't know. I think that probably was a motivating factor or something involved in this. So I hope he's not released and I hope he gets the worst possible treatment ever. But that's just me. Thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode of Serialistly with me today. I appreciate it.

I will be back on the mic with you first thing Thursday morning with headline highlights where we are going through everything that's happening in the true crime world. I appreciate you guys sticking through and hearing today's case. I know it wasn't easy and I will be talking with you guys again soon. Until then, be nice, don't kill people and just be a good human. All right, bye.