The distraught parents of Jeffrey Lehto, a Sudbury, Ont. resident murdered in Regina, Sask. in 2021, expressed their profound anguish over their inability to garner enough financial and government support required to attend their son’s murder trial. John and Janet Alderson, Lehto’s bereaved parents, noted that their son had relocated to Regina in search of a better life, a dream that was ultimately thwarted by the tragic circumstances.
The Aldersons have found themselves incapacitated by grief and a lack of resources to travel and be present at the trial. They encountered roadblocks in their pursuit of governmental aid due to interprovincial differences. They disclosed that had the crime transpired in their home province of Ontario, authorities would have been more inclined to provide support.
The circumstances surrounding Lehto’s murder indicate that he fell victim to a brutal assault in a residential neighborhood on Quebec Street on the evening of January 19, 2021. His death in the hospital the next morning left his parents devastated, with his mother harking back to their final encounter, revealing her haunting final words to him.
Two individuals, Adam R. Hook, 39, and Harvey Vince Huntinghawk, 47, were implicated in the purported second-degree murder. However, Huntinghawk’s charges were dropped within 2021 and Hook is slated for a jury trial in the following November while remaining in police custody.
John Alderson has been encumbered by the emotional aftermath of his son’s murder, noting the pervasiveness of his missed presence. As the Aldersons grapple with their grief and pursue the available avenues for justice, they are working to amass funds for their journey surpassing 2,100 kilometers to hear specifics about the fate of their son. They remain resolute in their determination, willing to sacrifice all to face their son’s accused killer in court.
Their resounding message foregrounds their son’s humanity and the breadth of his roles–a son, a brother, a father. Janet Alderson underscores her son’s struggle with addiction, tracing his issues back to a prescription for painkillers he procured after an injury while working in the oilfields.
She revealed that the abrupt discontinuation of this prescription led him to fall into the wrong crowd and dangerous circumstances. Despite Lehto’s periods of independence and the distance between them, his parents reflected on their desire to stand by his side through his trials. John Alderson recounted his son’s brief thriving period in Regina, establishing a construction and roofing company before his life began spiraling out of control.
In their shared agony and determination to remember him, the grieving parents urged other parents of children battling addiction to persist in their support, remembering to remind them of their intrinsic strength and value.
