For the first time this week, Loretta Saunders’ mother, brother and sister were allowed into the courtroom for the preliminary hearing of the two people accused of killing her.

They had been listed as witnesses for the defence and, as a result, were excluded from the courtroom this week. However, they were never called to the stand.

No longer named as witnesses, they entered the courtroom and faced the accused for the first time on Friday.

“It was really difficult not being able to talk about it, waiting out here and seeing my brother coming out crying,” says Saunders’ sister Delilah. “So, finally being able to share what went on in the court was a big relief.”

The Crown and defence made their closing statements on Friday, summarizing the evidence Judge Anne Derrick will consider over the next week while deciding whether the case should go to trial.

In its final summation to the court, the Crown outlined why it is pursuing first-degree murder charges against the accused. A charge of first-degree murder indicates the Crown believes Saunders’ murder was both planned and deliberate.

“We are very pleased with how the evidence came out and we are pleased with the submissions,” says Crown prosecutor Christine Driscoll. “We are confident in whatever decision Justice Derrick makes and whatever decision she makes is a just decision.”

Blake Leggette, 26, and his girlfriend, Victoria Henneberry, 28, are charged with first-degree murder in Saunders’ death.

Saunders, 26, was originally from Labrador but was a student at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax at the time of her death. The Inuk woman had been writing a thesis on murdered and missing aboriginal women.

She was last seen alive at her apartment in Halifax’s Cowie Hill neighbourhood on Feb. 13 and was reported missing Feb. 17. She had been renting the apartment to Henneberry and Leggette.

Saunders’ body was found in a hockey bag in a ditch off the Trans-Canada Highway near Salisbury, N.B. on Feb. 26.

Her family says she was three months’ pregnant at the time.

The preliminary hearing has been adjourned until next Friday, when Derrick will rule whether the case should proceed to trial.

“I guess we just wait for the decision and try to keep Loretta’s memory alive and start healing,” says Delilah. “It’s time for healing now.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl