Cody Legebokoff
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Tragic lessons from the Legebokoff murders

James Mangan
Team Member

he Cody Legebokoff murder trial

highlighted a major social blight facing
Prince George: addiction, and the high
risk life-style that follows. Three of Cody
Legebokoff’s victims, Natasha Montgomery,
Cynthia Maas, and Jill Stuchenko, were
described to the jury as sex-trade workers
who suffered from their addictions to crack-
cocaine and other illegal drugs. However,
the jury also witnessed family testimonies
describing the active struggles these women
experienced in their attempts to liberate
themselves from the lifestyle that follows this
level of addiction. If no other lesson is taken
from this trial, let it be that the resources
available to those who seek to liberate
themselves from addiction and the high-risk
lifestyle can be improved.

Crown Prosecutor Joseph Temple stated

that all four of Cody Legebokoff’s victims
were “willing to meet with...unknown males
and accompany those males to the male’s
residence or motor vehicle to consume drugs
or alcohol.” As a result of such descriptions,
BC Supreme Court Justice W. G. Parrett stated
in section 155 of the official court document

that this trial highlights “a sociological issue,
one that arises from, among other things, a
high risk lifestyle.” This statement suggests
that Supreme Court Justice Parrett was
convinced the victims’ high-risk lifestyle,
brought about by their addictions to illegal
substances, was a contributing factor, though
not a direct cause, to their murders. Supreme
Court Justice Parrett next states that “This

is an issue that must be dealt with.”

To delve deeper into the social-impact

of these murders, the families of Cody
Legebokoff’s victims presented impact-
statements. These statements offered

the public a glimpse into a very different
Prince George. They suggested that each
of the three victims who actively engaged
in the sex-trade attempted to find relief,
even liberation, from their addictions to
illegal drugs and the high-risk scene.

Only months before her murder, Natasha
Mongomery had been released from prison,
and her father claimed at the trial that she
had been actively attempting to put her

life back together. One would like to think
that incarceration would ideally be the

first step towards providing help for those
suffering from addiction. Cynthia Maas’s
cousin testified that despite being forced

onto the streets as a result of her drug
addiction, Maas regularly attended Alcoholics
Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

The common theme among all the impact-
statements was that the victims had been
reaching out to their families for help.

Unfortunately, the resources provided
to these women, be they those found in
incarceration facilities, private charities,
or family-development groups, proved
to be ineffective at helping these women
battle their addiction. As a result, they
remained in the spiral that is the high-
risk lifestyle, which is where they were
preyed upon by Cody Legebokoff.

Cody Legebokoff’s victims are extreme
examples of the dangers of the high-risk
lifestyle. During the trial, Temple stated
that most murders conducted in the high-
risk scene are done to send messages as a
result of debts, rather than to satisfy serial
killers. Nonetheless, the murder of these
women highlights a need to prioritize the
well-being of our most vulnerable citizens
who actively seek out aid and relief from
their addictions and the high-risk lifestyle.

To improve the resources available to these
citizens, Prince George has a number of

options. The new municipal government
contains councillors who have stated their
willingness to improve communications
with the provincial government. Addiction
is a national issue that can best be addressed
through cooperation among the municipal,
provincial, and federal governments.
Locally, Prince George has unique options.
Support for local recovery centers, such

as the proposed facility in the Haldi Road
community, can help separate those
seeking addiction-relief from their high-
risk lifestyles, while accommodating family
engagement in the recovery process.

Prince George may have to accept that
helping those who want relief from
addiction and the high-risk lifestyle requires
community investment. In the aftermath

of Cody Legebokoff’s trial, Supreme Court
Justice Parrett stated that the damaging
nature of the high-risk lifestyle is a social
issue that must be dealt with. By prioritizing
the investment of recovery centers and
addiction services, Prince George will be
bolstering the resources necessary for

those who seek liberation from addiction

to successfully leave the high-risk scene.