Edmonton — The woman on trial for second degree murder in the deaths of her children took the stand Monday.
Allyson McConnell has admitted to drowning her two young sons, but has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.
At the heart of the case will be McConnell’s state of mind at the time she drowned her sons Jayden and Connor in the family’s home February 1st, 2010.
On the stand Monday, she told the court “I didn’t feel that my life was worth living.”
Her attorney asked her “Do you have memory of drowning these 2 kids?”
She replied, “No, I do not.”
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The defence focused on many suicidal attempts Allyson has made dating back to when she was 15.
She testified she was sexually assaulted by her father and became pregnant with his baby. She miscarried that baby, but did attempt suicide.
She says she has had numerous suicide attempts since then including just a couple of weeks ago at the Alberta Hospital when she tried to strangle herself in the shower.
Her first sign of emotion came when she talked about her relationship with her mother-in-law, who she was very close with.
She said that relationship collapsed when her marriage to Curtis McConnell collapsed.
She also became very emotional when she was shown pictures of her two young boys in the bathtub where she drowned them.
Curtis and his mother both cried as the pictures were shown as well.
During cross examination, the crown prosecutor, Gordon Hatch, called Allyson a liar.
“You killed the boys because you couldn’t bear the thought of living without them,” Hatch continued, “It was only after you drowned the boys, you attempted to kill yourself.”
Allyson maintained she doesn’t remember anything – only a dream in hospital.
“I had a dream Connor was at the bottom of the bath looking up at me. He was calling out for me. I could actually hear him but I couldn’t reach him.”
The defence will call 3 more witnesses – Allyson’s sister, her mother and her psychiatric doctor.
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