The man accused of killing a 15-year-old northern BC lesbian near Vanderhoof in November 2010 now faces an additional three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of three Prince George women.
Cody Alan Legebokoff, 21, of Prince George is charged in connection with the deaths of Jill Stacey Stuchenko, 35, Cynthia Frances Maas, 35, and Natasha Lynn Montgomery, 23.
Legebokoff was arrested Oct 14 at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, where he is currently awaiting trial for the murder of 15-year-old Loren Donn Leslie.
All three women connected to the latest charges were women with families, police say.
Stuchenko was a mother from Prince George, RCMP Inspector Brendan Fitzpatrick said in an Oct 17 statement. She was reported missing to police Oct 22, 2009. “Sadly, her body was found on Oct 26, 2009, in a gravel pit off Otway Rd in the outskirts of Prince George, BC,” Fitzpatrick said.
Maas was also a mother and was reported missing Sept 23, 2010. “Cynthia was not found until Oct 9, 2010, when her body was discovered in LC Gunn Park, also in a remote area of Prince George,” Fitzpatrick indicated.
Montgomery, also a mother, was originally from Quesnel, BC, but had been living in the Prince George area. When she failed to connect with her family after a number of weeks, her friends contacted the RCMP to report her missing. She was reported missing the same day as Maas, Fitzpatrick said.
“While her body has not been recovered, investigative findings have resulted in a murder charge in relation to her disappearance,” he added.
“All four were women loved by their friends and family. All four were homicide victims. As a result of Project E-Prelude, all four of these murdered women have been connected to a single suspect,” Fitzpatrick said.
Legebokoff has been in custody since being denied bail after his arrest last year.
On the night of Nov 27, 2010, Leslie’s body was found after police saw a truck pulling off an unused logging road onto Highway 27 about 22 kilometres north of Vanderhoof.
Given the time and area, the Fort St James officer pulled the truck over. The officer spoke with the driver and, based on his observation, detained the man. Officers then summoned a Conservation Services officer to help search the area.
“The conservation officer followed the vehicle tracks back into the area from which it had emerged,” Corporal Dan Moskaluk said at the time. “The area with fresh snow cover was undisturbed by little else, if anything, but the truck which had been stopped by the officer.”
Shortly after, Moskaluk said, the conservation officer found Leslie’s body near the side road. “The state of the young girl indicated that she had been murdered just hours before the man’s arrest,” he said.
Fitzpatrick said that during the investigation, a number of search warrants were executed at two Prince George residences associated with Legebokoff.
The truck Legebokoff was driving also underwent a thorough forensic examination, Fitzpatrick said.
“It was a combination of many factors, along with a dedicated team of investigators that has brought us to the point where these additional three charges can be laid,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick said indications are that Legebokoff used social media and internet sites extensively to correspond with friends, associates, potential girlfriends and others. He frequently used the online name of 1CountryBoy and lived in Lethbridge, Alberta, for a short time between June 2008 and August 2009, police said.
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