Friend of slain Texas man speaks out about suspect's arrest in Halifax

A Texas woman says she's relieved the man accused of killing a close family friend was apprehended in Halifax last week.

"I felt like I could exhale," Debra Nizzasaid by telephone from her home in Wills Point, which is about 80 kilometres east of Dallas.

Burton (Burt) Duane Sanborn, 78, lived inEastland County, Texas, about 170 kilometres southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and died in late June in what police are calling an act of homicide wherehe suffered severe head trauma, according to local television stationKTXS.

Sanborn was close friends with Nizza'suncle, Preston Hogue, and was a fixture at family functions.

The accused,Derek Cameron Whisenand, 28, was apprehended in Halifax on Dec. 30 after a shoplifting incident at a business in the Bayers Lake Business Park.Whisenand illegally crossed the border from North Dakota into Manitoba in late Juneand made his way east.

It's unclear how long Whisenand was in Halifax, but a document from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada says he was living in a tent in a wooded area at the time of his arrest.

Nizza said Sanborn was retired and his career included teaching history at a college.

'We're still in shock," she said. "We miss him."

'He trusted way too easily'

Nizza said there was a time in her life where she was estranged from her extended family, butSanborn kept in touch.

"Burt was the one who would reach out and write and say, 'Hey, youhang in there. You're a good person, blah, blah, blah.' He was an awesome person. He was very loving and very giving, he trusted way too easily," she said.

Nizza said itwas within the last year she learned Sanbornwas helping out Whisenand,who was supposedly homeless. In exchange for a place to stay, Whisenand helpedSanborn around the house with moving things around and helping with computer tasks.

Nizza's regret

"I felt bad. I wish I had pursued trying to find out who this person was that he was trying to help," she said. "I felt bad that I didn't get up in his business and say, 'Hey, Burt. Can we help you with this person?'"

Nizza said on recent visits, she and her mother would meet with Sanborn at a Chinese food restaurant. Shenever met Whisenand.

Whisenandhas been in custodysince his arrest. He wasn't represented by a lawyer at a hearing Wednesday before theImmigration and Refugee Board of Canada and requested an adjournment to find legal representation.

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