‘She had an obsession with me. I couldn’t take it’

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This article was published 10/10/2009 (6065 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NATHANAEL Plourde says he was driven to kill Roxanne Fernando because she ignored his repeated attempts to sever their relationship.

"I didn’t want to be part of her life, but she didn’t take no for an answer," Plourde told Winnipeg police homicide detectives in a February 2007 videotaped confession. "She was crazy about me. She had an obsession with me. I just couldn’t take it. Like, I’m 19. I can’t handle a 24-year-old."

Plourde said he was facing additional pressure after learning Fernando was pregnant, a claim he initially thought was a ruse to keep them together following a brief romance that began while working together at McDonald’s.

"In my fears, she’ll come back in nine months with a kid or something," he said. "I don’t understand why she liked me because I didn’t like her. I’m just a young punk. I showed no interest in her."

During last year’s sentencing for a youth co-accused, Crown attorney Brent Davidson told court Plourde pressured Fernando to have an abortion. Fernando initially agreed, but later had a "change of heart." Plourde admitted to police the pair discussed an abortion, but denied telling Fernando what to do.

Fernando was reported missing the day after she was killed. Friends and family members launched a desperate search.

Police repeatedly pressured Plourde to tell them what happened to Fernando and lead them to her body.

He initially denied involvement, even volunteering to take a polygraph test, but broke down following hours of questioning.

"I’ve been living a lie," he said. "I thought she was crazy. But in the end, I ended up being crazy."

www.mikeoncrime.com