New BrunswickThe Saint John Court of King’s Bench heard emotional victim impact statements Monday during the sentencing hearing of Jinelle Thompson, 46, who previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Allan Lee, 52, last summer.Jinelle Thompson, 46, previously pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder in death of Allan Lee, 52, last summerThe Saint John Court of King’s Bench heard emotional victim impact statements Monday during the murder sentencing hearing of Jinelle Thompson, 46. (Roger Cosman/CBC)Jordan Morehouse was seven months pregnant when she learned Allan Lee, the father of her unborn child, had been murdered, a Saint John courtroom heard Monday.”My whole world came crashing down,” Morehouse said.”Having to carry our daughter knowing [Lee] was gone and would not be there for the birth or anytime after was mental and physical torture,” she said, reading her victim impact statement aloud at the sentencing hearing of Jinelle Suzanne Thompson.Thompson, 46, who was originally charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty in May to the lesser offence of second-degree murder in Lee’s death.The body of the 52-year-old was discovered in a wooded area on the western outskirts of the city, near Lorneville, on Aug. 1.WATCH | Grief and trauma still fresh a year after murder: Murder victim’s mother filled with rageThe Saint John Court of King’s Bench heard emotional victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing of Jinelle Thompson, 46, who previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Allan Lee, 52, last summer. There’s still a publication ban on the facts of the case, including how Lee died and why Thompson killed him. That’s because her two co-accused — Charles Pleasance, 56, and Stephen Chester Martin, 66 — still have to be tried for allegedly being accessories after the fact by assisting Thompson to escape.Morehouse told the Court of King’s Bench that she hasn’t gotten over losing Lee after more than a year has passed — and doesn’t think she ever will. She feels “lost without him,” she said.”I didn’t just lose Allan that day. I lost the father of my children, my protector, my friend, my love and … the security of having someone to help me physically, financially [and] mentally with the kids and life.”She has nightmares almost every night and can’t even visit family in the Lorneville area, where she grew up, without suffering a panic attack, she said.”What was once a place where I had beautiful memories and my favourite place to visit … now has turned into flashes of [Lee’s] body just lying there.”Morehouse is also heartbroken for all the things her children will miss out on with their dad, especially her youngest daughter, who never even got to meet him, she said. “She will never have a father-daughter dance, or have her father walk her down the aisle at her wedding. She will not have her father to give her advice.”The only time she will have an interaction with him will be at a gravestone a few hours away,” Morehouse said, as several of Lee’s loved ones, seated in the front row and wearing matching memorial jackets, cried quietly.Thompson, who appeared remotely by video from custody, showed no emotion.Daughter ‘not OK’Lee’s eldest daughter Ashley Paton, who grew up building chimneys with her father as part of his business, told the court she has struggled mentally, emotionally, physically and financially since his death.”I’m not the same person I used to be before all this,” said Paton, whose matching jacket read, “Never walk alone. My dad and sister walk with me.””As much as I pretend I am, I’m not OK.”Mother questions ‘why?’Lee’s mother, Lorraine Lee-Jessome, 71, said her “grief and trauma” is the same today as the day her only child was taken away from her.”I have sleepless nights asking the same question — why?”She’s “an emotional wreck” and full of “rage and loathing,” she said.Birthdays and holidays are “unbearable” without her “loud, boisterous” son who “loved his children dearly.””His absence is overwhelming,” said Lee-Jessome, noting she is “praying for some peace of mind and closure.” “All I am seeking is justice for Allan.”Judge reserves sentencingSecond-degree murder comes with an automatic life sentence, but how long an offender must serve before they become eligible for parole can range from 10 to 25 years.The Crown and defence both suggested the minimum 10 years would be appropriate, pointing to Thompson’s early guilty plea and positive pre-sentence report.The Parole Board of Canada will be in a better position to assess any future risk she might pose at that time, they submitted.Thompson declined through her lawyers to address the court.Justice Kathryn Gregory has reserved sentencing until Sept. 16.Thompson, who was arrested on Dec. 12, remains in custody. Her co-accused are scheduled to face a jury trial, starting on Aug. 24, 2026.
Saint John woman’s sentencing for murder hears 3 emotional victim impact statements
