Trial begins for accused in 2022 Montreal-area triple homicide

A woman and two children are dead following an apartment fire in Brossard, on Montreal's South Shore, on Sept. 25, 2022. (CTV Montreal/Touria Izri)

A South Shore woman accused of murdering her wife and the couple's children was in court today for the beginning of the trial.

The accused faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.

The victims were Synthia Bussière and her two children, five-year-old Eliam and two-year-old Zac. The three were found dead on the 12th floor at 8320 St-Laurent Blvd. in Brossard shortly after midnight in September 2022.

Bussieres' partner and father of their two children, Mohamad Al Boullouz, was arrested and charged with triple murder.

In the prisoner's box, Al Ballouz sported a long, dirty blond wig, manicured red fingernails, wore a woman's blazer and wished to be identified as a woman named Levana. The accused doesn't have a lawyer.

Crown prosecutor Laurence Lamoureux said the accused would be identified as a man during the trial, because that's how witnesses identified Al Boullouz before his arrest.

According to the Crown, Bussière was found with 23 stab wounds. Her two children's bodies did not show signs of violence. Their bodies were found in bed allegedly with their father laying down between the two.

He was also injured and the court heard he drank windshield washer fluid in an apparent suicide attempt. A firefighter who was on the scene testified that various objects, including the apartment's smoke detectors, were piled together near the bed and set on fire.

The firefighter told the court he had to kick the door open, and a colleague screamed "victim" several times upon seeing the mother's body.

During cross examination, Al Ballouz said the firefighter had broken into the apartment and asked the witness if he saw him commit the murders.

The firefighter flatly replied: No.

The trial could last more than 10 weeks.