Did Synthia Bussières stage her own death? Did she kill her two sons before trying to kill her partner Mohamed Al Ballouz? This astonishing hypothesis was launched by the accused on Monday. A theory a thousand miles from that of the Crown, which instead asserts that the father is the author of the three murders.
Posted at 3:39 p.m.
The accused, who now identifies as a woman, offered the jury a glimpse of her defense Monday in questions posed to the forensic biologist, a prosecution witness. As the accused represents herself, she is the one who cross-examines the witnesses.
“If I submit to you that Synthia Bussières killed the two children and would have tried to kill the accused afterwards, would you be able to give your expert opinion? », Launched the accused.
“No,” replied the expert. “I can’t draw any conclusions from the blood spatter. I can’t do sequences of events. I can’t say what happened,” said Maria Fiorillo, a forensic biologist and blood spatter specialist.
In another question during cross-examination, this time on the presence of a trace of blood on the shower ceiling, the accused launched this hypothesis which is surprising:
“Synthia Bussières could have staged a scene and sprayed blood on the ceiling with a bloody hand before there was an altercation,” suggested the accused.
The 38-year-old trans woman, who identified herself as Levana Ballouz at trial, is accused of the second-degree murder of her partner Synthia Bussières and the first-degree murders of their children Zac, 2, and Eliam, 5.
PHOTO FILED AS PROOF
A family portrait found in the apartment.
According to the Crown’s theory, Mohamed Al Ballouz, then a man, killed his partner by stabbing her around twenty times on September 25, 2022, in Brossard. He then killed his two sons, started a fire at the foot of the bed and ingested windshield washer fluid to commit suicide. In the meantime, he had tried to clean the apartment, again according to the Crown.
The forensic biology expert’s testimony on Monday highlighted the numerous cleaning attempts made in the apartment. Mohamed Al Ballouz’s blood was notably found on the handle of a mop soaked in blood and on the door of the washer.
PHOTO FILED AS PROOF
Al Ballouz’s blood was found on the washer.
“There was blood cleaning in the bathroom, around the sink, on the faucet, on the soap press. There is diluted blood in several places in the shower, also consistent with blood cleaning,” testified Maria Fiorillo.
Also, the blood of Mohamed Al Ballouz was detected on the four smoke detectors, according to the expert. The detection devices were found in the pile of objects used to start a fire at the foot of the bed. In a question asked during cross-examination, the accused suggested that she would have instead tried to “put the smoke detector back in place”.
Some small traces of Mohamed Al Ballouz’s blood were also found in the children’s bedroom, on the mattress protector of a bed, as well as on the children’s dresser.
According to the forensic biologist, an accumulation of blood belonging to Synthia Bussières was found in the bathroom, near the bath. That’s where his body was found by first responders. The blood spatters show that the bloodied person was in a low position.
In several places, however, the blood of Synthia Bussières and Mohamed Al Ballouz was in the same place. According to the expert, it is possible for a person who has just stabbed another to spread the victim’s blood.
The trial continues Tuesday at the Longueuil courthouse.
