A Quebec man serving time for killing his wife and two young sons has been denied a request to be transferred to a women’s prison after saying he now identifies as a female.
Mohamad Al Ballouz, who now uses the first name Levana, was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years in December 2024.
In 2022, he killed his wife, Synthia Bussières, who was 38 at the time, and the couple’s sons — five-year-old Eliam and two-year-old Zac — in the Montreal suburb of Brossard. He then set fire to the family’s condominium, according to court documents.
Al Ballouz, who transitioned while in custody, asked to be sent to the Joliette Institution for Women, northeast of Montreal.
In an emailed statement on Wednesday, the Correctional Service of Canada said it had completed an intake assessment of the case and that “the inmate will be incarcerated in a men’s institution.”
The agency declined to provide further information but has previously said offenders’ cases are reviewed after conviction to determine security risks and other details.
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CSC said that each request is assessed individually.
“When there are overriding health and safety concerns, the request is denied and alternatives are put in place to meet the offender’s gender‑related needs at the institution where they are incarcerated,” it said.
Al Ballouz was found guilty of the first-degree murder of his sons and received an automatic 25-year sentence. He was convicted of the second-degree murder of his wife with parole eligibility set at 20 years.
He was also sentenced to four years for arson.
During sentencing at the courthouse in Longueuil, Que., Superior Court Justice Éric Downs described Al Ballouz as “sadistic” and remorseless.
“The evidence shows that the accused shows no remorse, no empathy. Mohamad Al Ballouz, alias Levana Ballouz, is a deeply narcissistic person,” the judge said.
The court heard that Bussières was stabbed 23 times, with 11 of the wounds classified as defensive, indicating she fought for her life.
The two boys were killed after their mother, according to the court record. Al Ballouz drank windshield washer fluid in an alleged suicide attempt. He then set the condo on fire to destroy the evidence.
An autopsy on the two boys was unable determine the exact cause of their deaths.
The Canadian Press contributed to this article.
