Mohamad Al Ballouz is charged with the second-degree murder of her wife, Synthia Bussières, and the first-degree murders of their two sons, Zac, 2, and Eliam, 5.
Traces of Mohamad Al Ballouz’s blood were found all over the condominium in Brossard where she is alleged to have murdered her wife and their two children two years ago.
Maria Fiorello, an expert in DNA and blood stain patterns, was called by the Crown to testify Monday morning at Al Ballouz’s trial being held before a jury at the Longueuil courthouse.
Al Ballouz, 38, now identifies as a woman and is charged with the second-degree murder of her wife, Synthia Bussières, and the first-degree murders of their two sons, Zac, 2, and Eliam, 5. The Crown’s theory of the case is that Bussières was stabbed repeatedly first and then Al Ballouz killed their two sons during the night of Sept. 24, 2022.
Fiorello, a crime scene expert with 20 years of experience who has testified in nearly 40 trials across Quebec, told the jury that traces of what turned out to be Al Ballouz’s blood were found in several parts of the apartment on the 12th floor of the residential building on St-Laurent Blvd. on the South Shore.
Traces of the accused’s blood were found on the handle of the front door to the apartment, in the main hallway, on part of the condo’s balcony, a beer bottle, a set of car keys, on a toilet seat, inside the shower, the walls of the children’s bedroom, on the button to start a washing machine, on the handle of a mop and on a box of white kitchen garbage bags.
“The mop was still wet, so it appears it was used to clean up blood,” Fiorello said.
Bussières was stabbed 23 times, but there were no signs of violence found on the bodies of the two boys. Firefighters discovered the bodies after an alarm went off. When they entered, they found Al Ballouz lying on a bed in between her two sons. Bussières’s body was found in the bathroom.
Fiorello also said blood stains were found on the bases of two smoke detectors in the apartment. The actual smoke detectors had been removed and were found along with two others in a bedroom, at the base of a bed amid several other objects that had been set on fire.
Traces of Bussières’s blood were also found at some of the same locations as Al Ballouz’s, Fiorello told the jury.