‘Cold, calculated killer’ sentenced as an adult
In May, Justice Jennifer Pritchard heard differing views on the young man who murdered 16-year-old Hannah Leflar. The now 19-yearold killer was said to suffer from depression and other effects of a troubled childhood.
But, the Queen’s Bench judge has ruled that neither depression nor immaturity was at the heart of Skylar Prockner’s crime. Rather, the judge found, Prockner acted out of jealousy and anger when he plotted Hannah’s death, invaded her home and stabbed her to death on the floor of the bedroom shared by her mother and stepfather.
A sentencing hearing for Prockner concluded on Wednesday with Pritchard’s decision to sentence the young man as an adult for firstdegree murder. She subsequently lifted the publication ban on his name, previously protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
A courtroom packed to standing room only — mainly with Hannah’s family and friends — erupted in cheers and applause as Pritchard announced her decision and handed Prockner the mandatory life sentence with no parole eligibility for 10 years.
While the 10-year period begins on the date of his arrest, there is no guarantee he’ll be granted parole once that initial period is up.
Meanwhile, Prockner’s family shouted that they loved him, one yelling: “Unfair sentence.”
Like Hannah, Prockner was just 16 at the time of the stabbing, court having heard he couldn’t cope with the fact she’d broken up with him the year before. The Crown provided details of Prockner’s instability in the months that followed, which included stalking behaviour, online talk of killing Hannah and a plan dubbed “Project Zombify” intended to target her then-boyfriend — and her as well, if she happened to show up.
While Zombify didn’t come to pass, Hannah having broken up with that boy, Prockner’s final straw came when, in January 2015, he saw a photo on social media of Hannah with a new boyfriend.
Court heard Prockner recruited a friend and the two waited outside Hannah’s home until she returned from school. Once inside, Prockner stabbed Hannah multiple times — an act Pritchard said was clearly intended to result in the girl’s death.
Crown prosecutor Chris White argued for an adult sentence, presenting Prockner as a “cold, calculating individual” who viewed his ex-girlfriend not as a person, but as a thing that stood in the way of his happiness.
Meanwhile, defence counsel James Struthers and Corinne Maeder said the maximum youth sentence of 10 years would be sufficient to hold their client to account and provide rehabilitation and public protection. Pritchard disagreed. “(Psychiatrist Dr. Brent) Harold concluded that Skylar would require extensive psychological intervention over a lengthy period of time, and even then, may not be successful,” she said.
Pritchard also sided with Harold’s findings over those of other mental health experts when it came to views on Prockner’s level of maturity, referencing his preand post-offence activities and the deliberate nature of the killing.
“This murder was not the result of a despondent adolescent acting out childhood fantasies as suggested by (another of the doctors),” she said, finding it rather came down to the “independent determination and decision-making of Skylar.”
“Ascribing Skylar’s actions on Jan. 12, 2105 to immaturity or depression simply does not provide a convincing rationale for his behaviour,” she added. “Jealousy and anger do.”
Pritchard observed, in her view, that depression typically “drains” the sufferer rather than “revs them up to commit this type of cruel ... bloody, hands-on, first-degree murder that we have here.”
The judge took a moment at the start of her decision to address Hannah’s loved ones, noting no decision could ever “change the devastating reality that is now your life.”
And at the end, she addressed Prockner, speaking of the suicide he previously threatened in the event of an adult sentence.
“Suicide is a permanent answer to a temporary situation ...,” she said. “Change is possible if you really want it and you commit to it.”
After court, Hannah’s mother Janet Leflar expressed relief at the sentence and the fact Prockner can now be publicly identified.
“But there are no winners today,” she added. “Nobody won anything. She’s still gone. So it’s a hollow victory but it’s a victory.”
Numerous family members, including Hannah’s parents and step-parents, have been present for most, if not all, court appearances.
“If this is the last thing that I get to do for my daughter, then I’m going to do it,” Janet said.
A similar hearing is slated for the fall for a second youth who pleaded guilty to playing a role in the murder.