By Canadian Press

Judge sentences Quebecer convicted of triple murder who showed ‘no remorse’

Dec 20, 2024 | 12:34 PM

LONGUEUIL, Que. — A Quebec judge today described a triple murderer as remorseless and “sadistic” as he confirmed a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

A jury this week convicted Mohamad Al Ballouz, who now identifies as a woman and goes by the name Levana, of the 2022 murders of Synthia Bussières and their sons, five-year-old Eliam and two-year-old Zac.

Superior Court Justice Eric Downs says there is little reason to believe Al Ballouz can be rehabilitated, adding that the killer’s attempt to blame the murder of their children on Bussières demonstrated a cruel disregard for the victim’s loved ones.

Bussières, 38, was stabbed 23 times and the boys were then killed before Al Ballouz consumed wiper fluid and set the family condo in Brossard, Que., on fire to destroy evidence.

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.

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For the second-degree murder conviction in the death of Bussières, parole eligibility can be set at between 10 and 25 years, and Downs ruled that it should be 20 years.

That decision was largely symbolic as the total period before being eligible to apply for parole cannot exceed 25 years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2024.

The Canadian Press