Advertisement

Crown won’t appeal Quebec woman’s acquittal after third trial in daughters’ deaths

The Quebec Superior Court is seen in Montreal, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

The Crown says it won’t appeal the acquittal last month of a Quebec woman following a third trial in the deaths of her two daughters.

Adele Sorella was acquitted by Quebec Superior Court Justice Myriam Lachance on Dec. 18.

Sorella had been convicted twice previously, in 2013 and 2019, of murder in the girls’ killings following jury trials, but both of those decisions were overturned on appeal, which led to a third trial that took place last year before a judge alone.

The victims, nine-year-old Amanda and eight-year-old Sabrina, were found dead in their playroom on March 31, 2009, lying side by side in their school uniforms.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Lachance said in her ruling that there were gaps in the Crown’s theory of what transpired that led her to acquit Sorella on two counts of murder.

Story continues below advertisement

Their bodies bore no signs of violence and the cause of their deaths has never been determined, although prosecutors theorized they were killed in a hyperbaric chamber, which had been used to treat juvenile arthritis in one of the girls.

Audrey Roy-Cloutier, a spokeswoman for the province’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions, says in an email that the Crown disagrees with the acquittal but has concluded there was no error of law in Lachance’s decision that could justify an appeal.

Sponsored content

AdChoices