Boy endured years of ‘torture’ while in care of Burlington, Ont., couple, Crown tells murder trial

WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.

A boy Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney were trying to adopt died because of years of “torture” in their Burlington, Ont., home, the Crown told the couple’s murder trial.

The women locked the boy in a small basement bedroom, often in restraints even as he was “on the brink of death,” without a proper bed, enough food or medical attention, assistant Crown attorney Monica MacKenzie argued on Monday in Superior Court in Milton.

It was Cooney’s fifth and last day in the witness box, and the final day of the weeks-long trial before it breaks until next month. MacKenzie finished her cross-examination by putting the Crown’s theory to Cooney about how the 12-year-old boy died on Dec. 21, 2022. 

Both women have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other counts. For days, Cooney repeatedly denied MacKenzie’s assertions, blamed the boy for his deteriorating health or said she couldn’t recall specific details.

At times Monday, Cooney appeared emotional when discussing the boy’s final hours alive, wiping her eyes with a tissue. 

“You and Ms. Hamber stunted his growth and caused him to be an emaciated ‘skeleton,’ as Ms. Hamber described him,” MacKenzie said. “Ultimately, the tragedy was completely foreseeable to you and Hamber.” 

“Not at all,” Cooney responded.

The trial began in mid-September before a judge alone, Justice Clayton Conlan. CBC Hamilton is referring to the boy who died as L.L. and his younger brother as J.L., who’s now 13 and testified earlier in the proceedings. The Indigenous brothers’ identities are protected under a publication ban. 

Cooney and Hamber are also charged with confinement, assault with a weapon — zip ties — and failing to provide the necessaries of life to J.L.. 

L.L. was severely malnourished when he died. He’d stopped growing and weighed the same as he did when he was six years old. 

MacKenzie described the events the Crown believes unfolded the night L.L. died, although there’s no video footage past 5 p.m., she noted. The Crown has argued the women deleted it. Cooney has said the camera had stopped working because L.L. had thrown something at it.  

That evening, Cooney and Hamber were monitoring L.L., locked in his bedroom, on the security camera and saw him shivering. Cooney went to his room and found him confused, unsteady on his feet and showing signs of hypothermia. 

They turned the heat up in the house and put him in their outdoor hot tub, said MacKenzie. 

“But that didn’t work and you ended up pulling him out?” she asked. 

“No,” said Cooney, who denied putting him in the hot tub at all. 

MacKenzie said the couple then put him on a black toboggan to transport him inside to the “cold” basement — which Cooney also denied. They tipped him onto the floor, leaving him in a puddle of water, not breathing.

Cooney attempted CPR while Hamber called 911, MacKenzie said. First responders arrived quickly and found L.L. soaking wet and unresponsive. 

While they were trying to revive him, Cooney called the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) several times. 

“You were essentially papering the record while your son you say you loved was in the next room being worked on by first responders, in danger?” MacKenzie said. 

“We were just trying to get a hold of them so they were aware,” Cooney responded.

L.L. was transported to hospital, where he died. Cooney and Hamber also went, but “lied” to the emergency room doctor about the state of his health, MacKenzie put to Cooney, who denied that happened.  

In the days following, fearing they’d be arrested, Cooney and Hamber deleted text messages and security camera footage, removed the locks on the bedroom doors and hired a company to clean L.L.’s room, MacKenzie argued. 

Cooney also searched phrases like “dry drowning” — which is when somebody exposed to water dies later due to water in their lungs, court was told.

L.L. had been “dangerously thin” for at least over a year, MacKenzie said. She showed Cooney and the judge a September 2021 video of L.L., who she described as appearing emaciated, his hip bones and ribs visible, and his arms “like sticks.” 

“Yes, he’s very thin,” Cooney agreed. 

He was just as thin if not thinner the following summer, and the women began to create a narrative and “paper the record” about L.L.’s health, “covering your butts,” MacKenzie said. 

“No,” said Cooney. 

Hamber told the CAS and the boy’s psychiatrist that he’d developed an eating disorder called rumination syndrome, where he’d regurgitate food, causing him to be malnourished, the Crown said. 

“So despite our best efforts, [L.L.] is unhealthy,” Hamber wrote in an email to the CAS on Aug. 19, 2022. “We are simply sticking to the balanced, hearty, meal schedule and gagging behind the scenes out of view of both kiddos.”

L.L. was never formally diagnosed with this rare condition, MacKenzie noted.

Meanwhile, in text messages between the two women, they were calling L.L. “disgusting,” and “barferoo,” and Cooney added, “could die.” Cooney texted a security camera video to Hamber purportedly showing L.L. throwing up on his sleeve and eating it, and described it as “amo.” 

“When you’re talking about ‘amo’ … you’re talking about ammunition for you and Hamber to deny all responsibility should [L.L.] die?” MacKenzie asked.

“No, ‘amo’ would [mean] all the proof we can get so [L.L.] can get into an eating disorder clinic,” Cooney responded.

Throughout the fall, MacKenzie said the women were “doing the opposite” of trying to keep L.L. alive. He was locked in his bedroom, only given pureed food, forced to do exercise and often restrained overnight in a wetsuit, tube-like sleep sack or hockey helmet. 

Cooney said he wasn’t forced to do exercise and was given adequate food, but didn’t deny the restraints.

Sometimes, L.L. lost control of his bowels, had significant nose bleeds, was dizzy, vomited and said he wasn’t feeling well, said the Crown. In texts, the women speculated he had defecated in his room on purpose, had picked his nose, causing it to bleed, was faking falling and made himself throw up. 

Cooney said they never got him medical attention because they were regularly consulting with a psychiatrist and waiting for him to get into an eating disorders clinic. 

He was accepted into a clinic in October, but Hamber refused to proceed with admitting him, said MacKenzie. Cooney responded that she couldn’t remember. 

On Nov. 20, 2022, L.L. seemed “drunk,” had unfocused eyes, and was incoherent and shivering, the court previously heard. The women put him in warm water, gave him a blanket and traded his wetsuit for real clothes. 

When his condition appeared to improve, they went back to their usual practices of imposing rules that were impossible for L.L. to comply with and then punished him, MacKenzie said. The “torture” ultimately resulted in his death.

“No,” said Cooney. 

Hamber is expected to begin testifying when the proceedings resume in January. 

If you’re affected by this report, you can look for mental health support through resources in your province or territory.