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Man who killed 2 neighbours dies while serving time in Abbotsford

Leonard Landrick was serving life sentence at Pacific Institution
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Pacific Institution in Abbotsford. (Black Press file photo)

A man who stabbed two people to death in Vancouver in 2017 has died while serving time at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford.

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) reported Tuesday (May 31) that Leonard James Landrick, 78, died May 27 of “apparent natural causes.”

Landrick received a life sentence on Nov. 5, 2020 with no chance of parole for 13 years.

He was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder for the killings of Sandra McInnes, 57, and Neil Croker, 51, on July 8, 2017.

The three were all tenants of the Ocean Towers apartment building in Vancouver’s West End.

ALSO SEE: Murderer and sexual assailant dies while housed at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford

The judge, in his reasons for sentencing, said Landrick became delusional and wrongfully believed that he had been drugged by McInnes when he visited her suite to have a drink.

He also wrongly believed that while he was unconscious due to the drugs, he was sexually assaulted by Croker, the judge said.

McInnes and Croker were both stabbed in their separate suites late on the night of July 8, 2017 or early in the morning of July 9 while they were in bed, the court documents state.

Landrick got into their units using a set of spare keys that he had access to as a volunteer who assisted with the maintenance of the boiler system and as a board member, the judge stated.

ALSO SEE: Serial killer housed at Abbotsford’s Pacific Institution dies of natural causes

A psychological assessment concluded that Landrick was experiencing psychotic symptoms – specifically “paranoid delusions and occasional hallucinations” – starting about five weeks before the murders.

The symptoms were induced by “continuous use of crack cocaine and alcohol use,” the assessment indicated.

Landrick initially pursued a defence of “not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder,” but was instead convicted of the two murders.

As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the CSC says it will review the circumstances surrounding Landrick’s death. CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.



vhopes@abbynews.com

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Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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