Al Ballouz is charged with the second-degree murder of her wife, Synthia Bussières, and the first-degree murders of their two sons.
The jury that has been hearing evidence in a triple murder trial held on the South Shore returned to the Longueuil courthouse Wednesday morning after having a week off, only to be told they will have to wait a little longer for the case to resume.
Last week, the Crown declared its evidence in the trial of 38-year-old Mohamad Al Ballouz closed. Al Ballouz, who now identifies as a woman, 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 is that Bussières was stabbed repeatedly first and then Al Ballouz killed the boys the night of Sept. 24, 2022.
Al Ballouz is acting as her own lawyer and refers to herself in court as Levana Ballouz.
On Wednesday, Superior Court Justice Éric Downs called the jury in and repeated that he has been hearing arguments on legal issues over the course of several days since the prosecution declared its case closed.
“We will resume our work today,” Downs told the jury before asking the jurors to return before him Wednesday afternoon. Downs, the Crown and Al Ballouz “have certain things to discuss. This affair is not over. There are still other steps to come.”
He told the jury they can go over evidence presented during the trial while they wait, but he reminded them to not reach any conclusions for the time being.
Last week, the jury heard evidence that suggested Bussières was killed first. She suffered 23 stab wounds and pathologist Yann Pazé determined that the wounds caused damage to blood vessels in Bussières neck.
Pazé also did the autopsies on the two boys and he testified that he was not able to determine what caused their deaths.
Part of the Crown’s theory is that Al Ballouz started a fire inside the family’s condominium on St-Laurent Blvd. in Brossard, then drank windshield wiper fluid before firefighters burst into the home. Al Ballouz was found lying on a bed between the boys.