Sentencing Friday for Quebecer convicted of killing spouse, two children

By The Canadian Press on December 18, 2024.

A Quebecer convicted this week in a triple homicide of her spouse and two young children in a Montreal suburb in September 2022 will be sentenced Friday. The Longueuil, Que., provincial courthouse is seen on April 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sidhartha Banerjee

LONGUEUIL, Que. – A Quebecer convicted this week in a triple domestic murder that left a woman and her two young children dead in a Montreal suburb will be sentenced on Friday.

Mohamad Al Ballouz was found guilty by a jury Monday of the second-degree murder of Synthia Bussières and the first-degree murder of their two sons, five-year-old Eliam and two-year-old Zac.

Al Ballouz, who was Bussières’ husband at the time of the September 2022 killings but now identifies as a woman, was also convicted of arson for setting the family condo in Brossard, Que., on fire.

The trial heard Bussières was stabbed 23 times and the sons were subsequently killed before Al Ballouz consumed wiper fluid and set the fire to destroy evidence.

Superior Court Justice Eric Downs heard a victim impact statement today from Bussières’ mother and sentencing arguments from the Crown.

The first-degree murder convictions carry an automatic life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years, while parole eligibility for second-degree murder can range from 10 to 25 years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024.