A man recently charged with first-degree murder in the death of an inmate at Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst was in jail serving a sentence for a brutal 2008 murder.
Yesterday, the Bracebridge OPP announced that Devon Saunders, 54, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Leslie Ma, 31. The police reported that Ma died after suffering significant injuries on December 18, 2022.
In 2015 Saunders was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend Shernel Pierre, 26.
In 2008 Pierre, a nurse, was found shot in the back of the head and burned inside of her car in Edmonton, not far from the West Edmonton Mall. According to a 2015 article by the CBC, the attending officer described the crime scene as the most horrific homicide they had ever encountered.
It took four years for charges to be laid against Saunders but in 2015 he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
The victim, Ma was also from Alberta and in 2017 he pleaded guilty in a Calgary courtroom in relation to one of the largest fentanyl seizures in the province’s history.
Ma was arrested in January 2017 after a police search of multiple residences and a vehicle turned up $75,000 worth of fentanyl, cocaine and heroin, more than $100,000 in cash obtained by criminal means and a stolen BMW.
The police investigation into Ma’s death is ongoing.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
Click here to support local news
Join the discussion: