Briton ‘traumatised’ after being ‘prime suspect’ in tenant murder
● Man arrested by Calgary police but then released without charge
A British man said he was “traumatised” after becoming a prime suspect in the “murder” of a mother and her oneyear-old daughter in Canada.
Robert Leeming said he had been wrongly suspected of killing his tenant, Jasmine Lovett, 25, and her daughter Aliyah Sanderson, who vanished from the Cranston area of Calgary earlier this month.
The 34-year-old, who has lived in Canada for six years, was arrested on Thursday at his home in Cranston.
Calgary Police later said an unnamed suspect had been released without being charged.
“However, he remains the primary suspect in the case,” a police statement said. Speaking to local media after his release, Leeming said he understood he remained a suspect, describing it as a “very stressful experience”.
“They have it wrong, as far as I’m concerned – of course they do,” he said.
The family of the mother and daughtes said they were “devastated” by their disappearance. “They are so loved by so many people and we just want answers,” they said in a statement.
Calgary Police said Ms Lovett and Aliyah were last seen in Cranston on the evening of 16 April, while activity on her bank accounts stopped on 18 April.
“There have been no signs of life since,” the force said. “[We] do not believe this incident to be random because the suspect and victims knew each other.
“We are currently working with multiple other agencies to search Cranston and the area around Bragg Creek for evidence.”
Leeming said he was being treated as the prime suspect because he was “the last person to see them” on the evening of 18 April.
The day before, they had gone to a picnic area at Bragg Creek, a beauty spot around 40 miles away from Cranston, he said. Leeming, who described his relationship with Ms Lovett as “just good friends”, said he went out with the mother and baby for “beers and some food” before returning home. “[There was] nothing unusual,” he said.
Leeming said he was from England, but had moved to Canada in 2013 and been issued permanent residency.
Ms Lovett and her child had been living at his property since October.
Asked if there had ever any romantic involvement, he replied: “There was initially, but towards the end, no.”
UK Foreign Office officials are understood to be aware of the case, although no request for consular assistance has been made.
“They have it wrong, as far as I’m concerned
– of course they do.”
ROBERT LEEMING