A hulking father-of-two who was convicted late last year of killing his wife and kids has claimed to have transitioned behind bars and demands to be moved to a women’s prison – a request that was firmly denied on Wednesday.
Mohammad Al Ballouz, 38, who now wants to go by the name Levana Ballouz, was found guilty on December 16 for the stabbing death of his wife, Synthia Bussieres, 38, and suffocating their two children, five-year-old Eliam and two-year-old Zac, according to the CBC.
The killer was also convicted of arson for setting fire to the family condo in September 2022 in Brossard, on Montreal’s South Shore, the St. Albert Gazette reports.
But while in custody, Ballouz claimed to have transitioned and was being held at the Leclerc Institution – a women’s prison in Quebec – during his trial, when he reportedly wore a wig and had manicured red nails.
However, when Ballouz was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, he was incarcerated at a men’s prison.
By January, Ballouz had filed a petition to return to Leclerc – but on Wednesday, the Correctional Service of Canada confirmed that it had conducted an assessment of the situation and determined the killer ‘will be incarcerated in a men’s institution,’ CTV reports.
The federal agency did not provide a reason for its decision, but a spokesperson said each accommodation request is assessed on a case-by-case basis and requires an examination of the inmates needs and risks.
‘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,’ the spokesperson said.
Mohammad Al Ballouz, 38, who now goes by the name Levana Ballouz, had requested to serve his life sentence in a women’s prison
Ballouz was convicted in December of killing his wife, Synthia Bussieres, 38, and suffocating their two children, five-year-old Eliam and 2-year-old Zac (pictured)
Under the CSC’s policy, each inmate is assessed within 60 to 90 days of being sentenced to a federal prison to determine security risks and review details of the case.
The assessment allows authorities to determine the inmate’s security level and ‘appropriate penitentiary placement’ based on factors including the safety of the public, corrections staff and other inmates.
‘Furthermore, the victim’s concerns are taken into account when determining the penitentiary placement,’ the agency said in January, when Ballouz filed his request to be transferred to the women’s prison.
That request was quickly met with backlash, with Mathie Lavoie – president of the union that represents guards at provincial jails in Quebec – telling the CBC that inmates at Leclerc women’s detention center ‘have raised doubts or fears about trans prisoners who still have male sex organs.’
He explained that last summer, some of the trans inmates at the correctional facility taunted and tried to intimidate guards during strip searches.
‘Incarcerated people made certain comments towards female corrections officers by mentioning to them: “Well, it’s not so bad to see me naked, you see, it doesn’t bother you to see my genitals. You like seeing my genitals,”‘ Lavoie claimed.
Conservative leader Pierre Polievre also spoke out about the case on X, saying it is ‘surreal’ that ‘a man who killed his wife and two kids now claims he is a woman to go to a female prison.’
The Correctional Service of Canada denied Ballouz’s request to be incarcerated at the Leclerc Institution (pictured)
At his trial, jurors heard that Bussieres was stabbed 23 times – and at least 11 of the stab wounds were defensive, which prosecutors said showed she fought for her life.
Following the stabbing, Ballouz suffocated his two children, and set their condo on fire.
By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, they found the killer lying in a bed in a master bedroom between his two sons.
At sentencing in December, Quebec Superior Court Justice Eric Downs described Ballouz as ‘sadistic’ and a ‘deeply narcissistic person.’
‘The evidence shows that the accused shows no remorse, no empathy,’ he declared at the time.
