MONTREAL -- The Adele Sorella trial continued in Laval Wednesday with a controversial witness -- the accused's ex-husband, convicted mobster Giuseppe De Vito.
De Vito, who is currently serving a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking, told the court he was an absentee father, partly to blame for the death of his two children, the crime for which his ex-wife is now accused.
Speaking behind bulletproof glass inside the court room, De Vito said that in the fall of 2006, he went on the run from police, after escaping a raid on the Mafia that year.
He said he left his depressed wife behind, along with their two children.
De Vito admitted he lived under the radar in both Montreal and Toronto until his arrest in 2010. He saw his wife and children in Toronto one time and then again at his house in Laval, despite being listed among Canada's most wanted.
He and his wife officially separated in 2008, a year before his daughters’ deaths.
De Vito learned of the death of his children Sabrina and Amanda by listening to the news. When asked why he didn't attend his daughters’ funerals, he explained he was worried he didn't want to get caught by police.
The prosecution asked De Vito if he had anything to do with his children's death.
"I blame myself, I guess, yes,” he said. “Maybe I could have been there. I could have done something, like a father should."
