Killer’s mother says Innocence Canada is looking at his case
The mother of convicted killer Derik Lord says that her son’s case is being investigated by Innocence Canada, a group that helps exonerate prisoners.
Elouise Lord posted on Facebook’s Free Derik Lord page on May 27 that the family had heard from the organization.
“They have assigned Derik a lawyer and requested all our information we have on Derik’s case,” she wrote. “They must have seen something they can use.”
Win Wahrer, director of client services at Innocence Canada, told Postmedia the matter was “private and confidential” and that Derik Lord had approached the organization.
Although Wahrer did not have statistics on the number of people who have applied to Innocence Canada since it was founded 25 years ago, she said that it has helped exonerate 21 people since 1993. Some of its high profile cases include David Milgaard, Steven Truscott and Guy Paul Morin.
Innocence Canada, a national organization based in Toronto, was previously called the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.
Elouise and her husband David did not want to comment when contacted by Postmedia News.
“My husband told me that we’re not giving out information. Sorry about that,” she said.
Derik Lord was found guilty of murdering Doris Leatherbarrow, 69, and her daughter Sharon Huenemann, 47, on Oct. 5, 1990.
The cold-blooded, murder-for-hire case shocked British Columbians at the time.
The two women were murdered in Leatherbarrow’s Tsawwassen home. It was part of an inheritance plot orchestrated by Darren Huenemann, their 18-year-old grandson and son. The murders were carried out by two of his classmates at Saanich’s Mount Douglas secondary school: Derik Lord, then 17, and David Muir, 16.
Lord and Muir took the ferry to Leatherbarrow’s home and knocked on the door. They were recognized as friends of Darren Huenemann and invited in for dinner. They then used crowbars and knives to kill Leatherbarrow and Huenemann.
Lord and Muir had been promised a share of a $4 million inheritance in exchange for carrying out the murders. Payment included a monthly allowance and gifts such as a car and property.
All three teens were found guilty of first-degree murder.
In 2015, Postmedia News reported Derik Lord continues to believe he was wrongfully convicted, despite a confession from Muir.
Lord was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 10 years. He’s remained behind bars ever since.
Muir has admitted his guilt and was granted full parole in 2003.
Huenemann was sentenced to life in prison in 1991. He became eligible for parole in 2015.