Mohamed Al Ballouz, who now identifies as a woman, was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of release before serving 25 years, for the murder of his two children and his wife in September 2022, in Brossard.
Now named Levana, the accused appeared before the judge to hear his sentence after being found guilty on December 16 of the first degree murders of his two boys – Eliam, 5, and Zac, 2 – and the murder of second degree of their mother, Synthia Bussières.
Al Ballouz, who was Ms Bussieres' husband at the time of the murders in September 2022, was also convicted of arson after trying to set fire to the family apartment following the murders.
That evening, Mohamed Al Ballouz stabbed his partner 23 times, before suffocating his two children with a pillow. He then attempted suicide by drinking windshield washer fluid.
In the judgment pronounced by Judge Eric Downs, the magistrate imposed a life prison sentence, without the possibility of release on bail for 25 years, for the premeditated murder of the two children.
For the unpremeditated murder of Synthia Bussières, Al Ballouz received life imprisonment, with no possibility of release for 20 years. Added to these sentences are 4 years in penitentiary for arson.
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The wife of Mohamed Al Ballouz, Synthia Bussières, with her sons Zack (in his mother's arms) and Eliam Al Ballouz. (Archive photo)
Photo: Personal collection
As in Canada the judicial sentences are concurrent, this means that they will all be served at the same time. Following this principle, Levana Al Ballouz will have to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before being able to apply for parole.
Judge Downs did not mince his words with regard to the accused, whose sadistic character he underlined, her great danger and the total absence of remorse and empathy.
Al Ballouz, 38, who represented herself, ultimately did not present a defense. Instead, she argued that it was Ms. Bussières who killed their children and then attacked her, a theory that the jury quickly rejected.
The court must denounce this disgusting murder of a woman by her partner, one femicide and two filicides
declared the judge.
Nor can the court remain stoic in the face of the improbable theory that was presented by the accused who perpetrated these acts of cruelty against the family even in the legal arena. He abused his right to submit observations to torture the victim's family and vilified Synthia Bussières to her grave
added the magistrate.
Levana Al Ballouz wants to be incarcerated at the Joliette women's prison.
In his decision, the judge explained that it was not his role to determine whether the accused should serve her sentence in a men's or women's prison. It is the prison authorities who will have to decide over the coming days.