(Longueuil) Two parents pose with their boys next to Santa Claus. “How could such a tragedy happen to such a young and beautiful family? », asks the accused, showing the portrait to the jury. In the same breath, Mohamed Al Ballouz accuses his partner of having “lost her mind” by killing their two children.
Posted at 3:21 p.m.
What you need to know
- Mohamed Al Ballouz, who identifies as a woman, is accused of the murders of his partner and their two sons aged 2 and 5
- In her pleading on Wednesday, the accused posed as a victim of her partner Synthia Bussières, accusing her of having killed their two sons and of having attacked her
- Jury deliberations are expected to begin Saturday.
“Just because Synthia Bussières died does not make her an innocent person. The children are not only the children of Synthia Bussières, but mine as well,” insisted the accused on Wednesday at the Longueuil courthouse.
“You have before you a woman, a mother,” concluded the woman who changed her sex during the legal process.
Mohamed Al Ballouz – who now uses the female first name Levana – is charged with the first-degree murders of Zac, 2, and Eliam, 5, and the second-degree murder of his partner.
Dressed in a floral blouse, the 38-year-old accused delivered her plea herself, since she is representing herself without a lawyer. Having presented no defense, it was the first time she addressed the jury. From the outset, she stressed that it was “normal” for jurors to have “mixed emotions”.
“You are humans. Parents of commies or little commies,” the accused told them.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Mohamed Al Ballouz now identifies as a woman named Levana Ballouz
According to the Crown, Mohamed Al Ballouz inflicted 23 stab wounds on his partner on September 25, 2022. He then cleaned the scene, then murdered his sons by suffocating them with a pillow, before starting a fire with objects incriminating. He ultimately attempted to take his own life by ingesting windshield washer fluid.
This thesis is not “logical at all”, argued the accused. In front of a crowded room, she presented a theory which gives Synthia Bussières the role of an unscrupulous murderer.
Synthia Bussières “could very well have” killed their two children, while the accused was gone for 10 minutes to buy a case of beer. Or while the accused was drinking beer on the balcony.
According to the defense, Synthia Bussières placed her sons under the covers of the bed in the master bedroom, then used a pillow to suffocate them. “It’s a possibility supported by the evidence,” she argued.
PHOTO FILED AS PROOF
The two children were found on this bed. Their father was lying between them. A charred pile is at the foot of the bed.
Synthia Bussières then allegedly carried out a complex set-up by placing incriminating items throughout the apartment. Then, she allegedly inflicted around ten wounds on her hands with a knife. All this to blame the father.
Finally, Synthia Bussières allegedly tried to kill her partner as soon as he arrived in the apartment. The victim “unfortunately” died from a stab wound to the neck. The accused admits to being possibly “responsible” for the illegal act, but not to being “guilty” of it.
Synthia Bussières was stabbed 23 times, including several times in the neck and behind the head, according to the pathologist. She had 11 wounds on her hands, bruises and a burn on her leg. Essentially “superficial” wounds, the accused trivialized.
Testimonies filled with “hate”
The children’s bodies were still supple and warm, according to first responders, while that of Synthia Bussières was rigid. For the Crown, we can therefore infer that the children died after their mother.
But for the accused, we should not rely on the accounts of the first responders to draw conclusions about the order of deaths. “Several witnesses were fueled by hatred towards me,” she stressed.
A camera shows Mohamed Al Ballouz waiting for the elevator, even though he has just bought a case of beer. He stares at the camera and winks. In 146 visits to this location in the previous weeks, this was the first time he had made such a gesture, the Crown said.
A “harmless” gesture without any meaning, insisted the accused. On the contrary, the person in the video “seems happy”, according to the accused. Besides, why did you buy a case, and not a single beer, if she was planning to commit these murders?, she asked.
And why did you start a fire at the foot of the bed?
“Imagine your life partner kills your child(ren), prepares a crime scene to incriminate you, and attempts to kill you. You then notice that you are stuck with three dead people and a scene and items already in place. Ask yourself very seriously, how could you have reacted? », Exposed the accused.
Jury deliberations are expected to begin Saturday following instructions from Judge Eric Downs.
