The trial of a man charged with murdering his wife and two young sons has begun this week, with the accused now claiming to identify as transgender. Mohamad Al Ballouz, 38, is charged with the second-degree murder of his wife, Synthia Bussières, and the first-degree murders of their two sons, aged just 5 and 2 years old. Ballouz has now adopted the name Levana Ballouz, and has been referred to as a “woman” by Canadian press.
In September of 2022, firefighters attended Ballouz’ 12th floor condo in Brossard, Quebec in response to an apparent house fire. Inside, they found Synthia Bussières, her body riddled with stab wounds, laying on a bed next to her two children. Ballouz had lodged himself between Bussiéres and the children, and a small bonfire of household items had been lit next to the mattress.
All four were rushed to the hospital, but Bussières and her children died. Ballouz, who was also injured, had reportedly consumed dishwashing liquid in an apparent suicide attempt, but he was placed under arrest after being treated. Ballouz has no previous criminal history.
While the details of the case, including any potential motive, are still unclear, Bussières’ mother has come forward to reveal that her daughter appeared increasingly troubled in the two years leading up to the murder.
“She had been with this man for 12 years, but in the last two years, she had changed. I didn’t recognize her anymore,” Sylvie Guertin told Les 2 Rives in September of 2023. She also said that she had seen Bussières in the weeks before her death, and had observed that her daughter looked frail.
“In August [of 2022], I saw that something was wrong, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to look like the mother who gets involved in something that doesn’t concern her,” Guertin said. “I thought she had lost weight.”
Ballouz’s trial began on Monday, but during the proceedings it was learned that he now identifies as a “woman” named Levana Ballouz. During his hearings, he appeared in court wearing a blonde, curly wig and nail polish. He is reportedly representing himself after firing his two criminal defense lawyers, both of whom were considered to be among the best in Quebec.
According to CBC, the prosecution had to “warn” the jury that several witnesses would refer to Ballouz as a man to preempt any concerns about “disrespect.” Prior to the start of the trial, no previous news coverage had documented that Ballouz was expressing a change in his self-perceived “gender identity,” suggesting his claim of being transgender was extremely recent.
Canadian media outlets are respecting Ballouz’ new identity, with multiple articles covering the trial referring to Ballouz as a “woman” or by using feminine pronouns.
While the trial is expected to last at least 10 more weeks, if Ballouz is found guilty and criminally responsible, he would be entitled to request housing in a women’s prison.
Largely due to the efforts of the governing Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau, the category of “gender identity” was made a protected characteristic after it was added to the Canadian Human Rights Act via a controversial piece of legislation known as Bill C-16. The amendments granted men access to single-sex female spaces like washrooms, changing rooms, prisons, and rape shelters on the basis of their identity.
While the Canadian government claimed the bill had been assessed for its impact on women prior to approval, it has refused to release any details of the assessment’s findings. In 2020, a copy of the assessment was given to journalist Anna Slatz via an Access To Information Request but was 96% redacted.
Since Bill C-16 was enacted in 2017, a number of violent and sexually depraved male inmates have been transferred to women’s prisons across Canada.
As previously reported by Reduxx, one egregious example includes a trans-identified male who raped an infant before being transferred to a women’s prison.
Tara Desousa, also known as Adam Laboucan, sexually assaulted a three-month-old baby boy in Quesnel, British Columbia in 1997. The infant was so brutally injured by the attack that he had to be flown to Vancouver, 410 miles away, to undergo reconstructive surgery. After declaring a transgender status, Desousa was transferred to the Fraser Valley Institution for Women, where he is one of multiple trans-identified males with a history of sexual violence at the facility. Desousa is designated a “dangerous offender” and is considered such a risk to public safety that he is serving an indeterminate prison sentence.