Loretta Saunders's killer wants court to appoint lawyer for her appeal

The Halifax woman who admitted she helped her boyfriend killLoretta Saunders is asking the province's highest court to order the appointment of a lawyer to handle her appeal.

Victoria Henneberry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in April 2015.

Last summer, Henneberry faxed a handwritten notice of appeal from Truro's Nova Institution for Women to the prothonotary's office at the Court of Appeal.

She claims she was under a great deal of stressand anxiety when she made her plea.

She's been denied legal aid, however,and had to speak in court Thursday on her own behalf.

Justice Elizabeth Van den Eyndenreserved her decision on whether to order a lawyer be appointed, saying it will come out in the next few weeks.

No dates have been set for an appeal.

Life sentence

Henneberry is serving a life sentence for Saunders's murder. She must serve 10 years before she can apply for parole.

Her then boyfriend, 26-year-old Blake Leggette, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was also sentenced to life in prison.

• Loretta Saunders murder was 'despicable, horrifying and cowardly'

Saunders, a 26-year-old Inuk woman, disappeared in February 2014. Her body was discovered in the median of the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Salisbury, N.B., a couple of weeks later.

According to court documents Saunders was killed because Leggette and Henneberry couldn't afford to pay their rent for a room they were leasing from her.

Last summer,Henneberrywas granted an extension to appeal her conviction after she failed to file it with the 30-day window following her sentencing. She said she was told the window was 60 days.