MONTREAL — A Quebec Superior Court judge described a triple murderer Friday as "sadistic" and remorseless as he handed down a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
On Monday, a jury convicted Mohamad Al Ballouz, who now identifies as a woman and goes by the first name Levana, of the 2022 murders of Synthia Bussières and their two sons, five-year-old Eliam and two-year-old Zac.
Al Ballouz, who was Bussières' husband at the time, was also convicted of arson for setting fire to the family condo in the Montreal suburb of Brossard, Que.
In his sentencing decision at the courthouse in Longueuil, Que., Quebec Superior Justice Eric Downs said the court considered the "extreme violence" and brutal manner in which Bussières was repeatedly stabbed — a killing he described as a "femicide" and illustrative of "the sadistic character of the accused."
Downs said Al Ballouz's crimes made clear the dangers posed by the killer and that there is little reason to believe Al Ballouz can be rehabilitated.
“The evidence shows that the accused shows no remorse, no empathy. Mohamad Al Ballouz, alias Levana Ballouz, is a deeply narcissistic person,” the judge told the court, adding the killer’s manipulative personality makes it "impossible to envisage medium to long-term rehabilitation and mitigation to the risk of recidivism."
During the trial, the court heard that Bussières, 38, was stabbed 23 times. At least 11 of the stab wounds were classified as defensive wounds, which the Crown said shows she fought for her life.
The boys were then killed before Al Ballouz consumed wiper fluid and set the fire to destroy evidence. An autopsy was not able to establish the exact cause of the boys' deaths.
The judge said the mistreatment of an intimate partner in a family home and the accused's attempts to cover up the crime also factored into the sentencing decision.
However, in addition to the violence during the slaying, the judge said Al Ballouz demonstrated a continuous, cruel disregard for the victim's loved ones during the trial, attempting to blame the murder of their children on Bussières — a theory the jury quickly rejected. Al Ballouz, who chose not to be represented by a lawyer, lashed out at Bussières once more in a letter read as a final address to the judge Wednesday.
That same day, the court heard from Bussières' mother, Sylvie Guertin, who described the immense pain of having to bury her daughter and grandchildren. "On Sept. 25, 2022, my life and that of my entire family was destroyed," she told the court.
In the deaths of the boys, the jury found Al Ballouz guilty of first-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years. For the second-degree murder conviction in the death of Bussières, parole eligibility can range between 10 and 25 years, and Downs ruled that it should be 20 years. The jury had recommended 21 years.
That decision was largely symbolic as the total period before being eligible to apply for parole cannot exceed 25 years. Al Ballouz was also sentenced to four years on the arson charge.
The sentence will include the time Al Ballouz has served while incarcerated since being arrested in 2022.
Al Ballouz has requested to be sent to the Joliette Institution for Women. Downs said the decision about where the sentence will be served is up to Correctional Service Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2024.
Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press
