A Vancouver man convicted in the 2017 murders of his West End building council president and manager has died in prison.
Leonard James Landrick was found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2017 homicides. His arrest for the killings came the same day the bodies of Sandra McInnes and Neil Croker were found. Landrick was 76 at the time.
“The murders of Ms. McInnes and Mr. Croker were brutal and vicious,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ronald Skolrood said in sentencing Landrick in 2020.
“They were attacked in their beds while they were in particularly vulnerable and defenceless positions,” Skolrood said. “There was also an element of planning involved in the offences, in that Ms. McInnes and Mr. Croker were targeted by Mr. Landrick and the murders took place in two different locations.”
Correctional Service Canada (CSC) confirmed in a statement May 31 that Landrick had passed away apparently from natural causes. Next of kin have been notified.
At the time of death, the inmate had been serving an indeterminate sentence, which commenced on Nov. 5, 2020, for second-degree murder.
“As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances,” CSC said. “CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.”
Landrick died at Abbotsford’s Pacific Institution.
Landrick, McInnes and Croker all resided at 1835 Morton Ave. in the West End of Vancouver. Landrick and McInnes had served together on the co‑op board while Croker was the resident caretaker.
Skolrood said Landrick came to believe in May 2017 that McInnes had drugged him when he visited her suite to have a drink.
He further believed that while he was unconscious due to the drugs, Croker had sexually assaulted him.
“In the weeks that followed the alleged assault, he made his allegations known to various people in the building, to the point where Ms. McInnes was concerned about his behaviour and about her safety,” Skolrood said.
The judge said those beliefs were the product of delusions.
Late in the night of July 8, 2017, both McInnes and Croker were stabbed multiple times in their respective apartments in their beds.
Landrick denied committing the murders at trial but the jury did not believe him.
“While the evidence did not establish who was killed first, it is clear that after killing the first victim, Mr. Landrick had to travel over at least 10 flights of stairs to reach the suite of the second victim,” Skolrood said.
After the verdict was announced, Landrick said he wanted to raise the defence of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. That was soon dropped.
