Guilty of murder: Jury rules on slaying of two children and mother

Guilty verdict in triple-murder case The accused in a triple homicide trial south of Montreal has been found guilty.

The accused in a triple homicide trial south of Montreal has been found guilty.

The jury reached the verdict Monday morning after deliberations began on Saturday.

The accused is a woman named Levana Ballouz, who was known as Mohamad Al Ballouz when the deaths occurred in September 2022.

The accused was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder in the death of her partner, 38-year-old Synthia Bussieres, and two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her two children, five-year-old Eliam and two-year-old Zac.

Ballouz nodded as the verdict was read in court.

Bussieres's mother, Sylvie Guertin, held her partner's hand in the courtroom.

"We've been impatiently waiting for this day," she said outside of court. "We were wondering this morning if there would be more delays … but for my daughter ... justice has finally been served."

First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

A second-degree murder conviction also carries a life sentence, with parole eligibility varying between 10 and 25 years.

The jury can recommend how many years Ballouz must serve before being eligible for parole.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Ballouz, who identified with the name Mohamad at the time of the deaths, stabbed his partner 23 times in their Brossard condo while she tried to defend herself.

The court was told that he then drank beer while planning to kill his two children and afterwards tried to destroy the evidence.

Prosecutors say Ballouz then tried to kill himself by drinking windshield washer fluid.

The accused chose not to have a lawyer and didn't present a defence at the trial, but in Wednesday's closing arguments refuted the Crown's case.

Ballouz alleged it was Bussieres that killed the children while he was out buying a case of beer and when he got back, she attacked him.

He said he acted in self defence and her death wasn't intentional.

Guertin says she's happy with the verdicts and can now start to properly grieve the loss of her daughter and two young grandchildren.