Robert Gerald (Bobby) LeBlanc, 53, was a plater foreman at the Pictou Industries Shipyard until it was shut down. He and his wife Susan then started a cab company and were just beginning to see their efforts pay off. They were the parents of three children. At about 5 p.m. on Friday, January 2, 1998, Mr. LeBlanc answered a call to pick up passengers in Heathbell, about 10 km (six miles) west of Pictou. The callers were two boys aged 15 and 16. Once they were in the cab the 15-year-old strangled Mr. LeBlanc with a length of wire that he had concealed in his sleeve, while the 16-year-old bludgeoned him with a hammer. Mr. LeBlanc died of strangulation, his larynx fractured in the attack. The robbery netted his killers $65 and a pack of cigarettes. Mr. LeBlanc's 1991 black Pontiac Parisienne was spotted in the middle of Pleasant Valley Road near Greenhill, about 20 km southwest of Pictou, at about 8:20 p.m. or a little over three hours after he left home. A family member heard a citizen's band radio conversation about the seemingly abandoned cab and called the RCMP. After making inquiries about Mr. LeBlanc in the area, police officers opened the trunk found his body. The two youths were arrested on January 3 and 4, along with a 14-year-old girl who was charged with obstruction of justice for withholding evidence. Mr. LeBlanc's funeral was held in Pictou on January 9. Over 300 people attended, including about 20 taxi drivers. A trust fund was established in aid of his widow and children. The 16-year-old was old enough to be tried as an adult but a hearing was required before the 15-year-old's case could be raised from juvenile court. A court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr. David Mulhull, said that the 15-year-old was polite and co-operative but showed little emotion. "There was little evidence of distress with respect to the incident (Mr. LeBlanc's murder), more an impression of passive acceptance of both the incident and the consequences of it," said Dr. Mulhull. The youth, who had no prior criminal record, was described as "having a good heart but low self esteem." He was a follower rather than a leader, and gullible, but knew the difference between right and wrong. He was also described as having learning and behavioral problems and had undergone counselling for anger. He had been drinking since he was 12 and was allowed to use both hash and hash oil at home by his father. In the opinion of another psychiatrist and a psychologist the 15-year-old could be successfully treated within 10 years, but Glasgow Family Court Judge James Wilson was skeptical, saying "that prognosis represents too great a risk to the public." "In my opinion, the young offender system is deficient in a case such as this in affording society the necessary protection," he said adding that it was impossible to reconcile both the protection of society and rehabilitation of the accused within the youth court system. Judge Wilson ordered the 15-year-old to be tried as an adult because he thought the adult justice system offered a better chance for rehabilitation as well as better controls for ensuring public safety. Nevertheless Judge Wilson recommended that, in the interests of rehabilitation, 15-year-old begin his sentence in a provincial youth detention centre rather than a federal prison. The two youths were both charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. On October 23, the 15-year-old was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 6 1/2 years and, following Judge Wilson's recommendation, he was sent to a youth detention centre. In July, 1999 the 16-year-old was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for seven years. In his case the presiding judge rejected the idea of having him serve his time in a youth detention centre and sent him to federal prison because, he said, Mr. LeBlanc's murder was one of the worst crimes he'd ever seen. The 15-year-old's stay in a youth detention centre did not last long. In April, 2000 he was ordered transferred to Springhill federal prison after beating up another inmate. In the fall of 2009, after completing several escorted absences from jail, the 15-year-old, now 26, was granted a six month term of day parole comprising six 72-hour trips out of prison to visit family and a halfway house. The parole was briefly suspended in December, 2009 after an incident that involved him "sitting on a staff member" at the halfway house. Nevertheless correctional staff described him as "having a respectful manner with both staff and fellow inmates" and his "performance with respect to institutional development has been consistently positive." As a result the National Parole Board declared that allowing the 15-year-old out of prison would not pose a risk to the public. Meanwhile the 16-year-old's prison record was less positive. He was denied parole in 2004, and again in 2006 after he walked out of his own parole hearing. In April, 2010 the 15-year-old, now 28, had his day parole extended for another six months. He continued to be "compliant and cooperative" but "lacked many of the life skills a normal person growing up would have acquired" and showed no interest in pursuing trade skills that would "improve his chances of gainful employment and facilitate an eventual full reintegration into the community." Despite these concerns the NPB decided that he could have his day parole extended "without placing the public at an undue risk," though "his progress was not great enough to consider full parole at this time." [Next column]

Stella Maris Catholic Church, Pictou, Nova Scotia, where Robert LeBlanc's funeral service was held on January 8, 1998. Over 300 people attended. (Source: Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia.) In May, 2011, the 15-year-old was finally granted full parole. He returned to Heathbell where his parents lived. He sometimes slept in a camper trailer owned by a step sister and kept some of his clothes there. On October 9, 2011, a 19-year-old woman named Amber Kirwan disappeared. She was a student at Nova Scotia Community College in Stellarton and lived in New Glasgow not far from her parents. She worked in a local hardware store. Ms Kirwan was last seen leaving Dooly's pool hall at about 1:30 a.m. on October 9 after an evening out with friends on the Canadian Thanskgiving weekend. She said she was going to meet her boyfriend at Big Al's convenience store, a short distance away from Dooly's. She had arranged for her boyfriend to pick her up but he asked to meet her at the convenience store because he had been drinking and smoking pot and was driving without a license or insurance. He didn't want to pick her up at Dooly's because he was afraid that the police might be watching the pool hall. Ms Kirwan never arrived at the convenience store. A security camera at Dooly's showed her leaving and walking toward the convenience store, but a camera covering the store's parking lot showed no sign of her. Ms Kirwan's disappearance obsessed the communities in Pictou County for weeks. New Glasgow residents maintained a 20-metre long (65 foot) "wall of hope" covered with hundreds of lit candles. One resident offered a $15,000 reward for any tips that led to finding her. Meanwhile, on Thanksgiving Monday, October 10, a local couple noticed a strange car parked on Heathbell Road at the foot of their property near a wooded area and a logging road. On the following Friday, after hearing about Ms Kirwan's disappearance, they checked the spot where the car was parked. Here they discovered women's leggings and feathered earrings hanging in the bushes. Friends later identified the items as belonging to Ms Kirwan. The discovery focused police attention on the area, but it was not until November 5 that they found Ms Kirwan's remains face down in a shallow grave along the logging road. The grave was not far from the camper trailer owned by the 15-year-old's step sister. Ms Kirwan's hands and feet were bound and she was stabbed at least 10 times. The wounds were so close together that it was hard to determine how many there were. Her hands showed defensive wounds and her autopsy revealed a high level of codeine. A water bottle with traces of codeine was later found in the camper trailer. On November 7 the RCMP seized the 15-year-old's grey Chevrolet Impala and the next day executed a search warrant on the camper trailer. On November 9 they arrested the 15-year-old himself without incident as he walked along a street in New Glasgow. He was carrying a switchblade knife, three marijuana joints and a magazine containing bullets for a .22 calibre gun. On November 15 he pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon and marijuana and was sent back to prison. His parole was formally revoked in February, 2012. Early in their investigation police and prosecutors suspected him to be Amber Kirwan's killer. They believed he intercepted her between Dooly's pool hall and the convenience store, overpowered her and took her back to the camper trailer. Cell phone evidence of his movements supported this theory. The next six months were spent building the case against him. Among the evidence found in the camper trailer were traces of Ms Kirwan's blood as well as towels and duct tape consistent with the duct tape and material in Ms Kirwan's bindings. A bloody tank top with DNA from both Ms Kirwan and the suspect was found in his car. In May, 2012, now 31, he was formally charged with her murder. The trial did not begin until January, 2014. After hearing three weeks of testimony, the jury of six men and six women deliberated for seven and half hours before finding the killer guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years. His appeal was dismissed in November, 2015.