In text messages, Ontario women accused of murder described boy in their care as ‘loser,’ trial hears

WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.

The Ontario Provincial Police sergeant who led the investigation into Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney testified at their first-degree murder trial Monday, outlining evidence collected by police in the case against the couple.

Sgt. Julie Powers told the Milton, Ont., courtroom that she spent weeks reviewing photos, videos, audio recordings, messages and call logs on electronic devices police took from Cooney and Hamber when they were charged in 2023 in relation to two boys they were trying to adopt.

Early in their five years together, photos on the women’s electronic devices showed the couple and both boys, the police officer said in response to questions from Crown lawyer Monica MacKenzie. Over the five years they were together, fewer and fewer photos showed the older boy, L.L, Powers said.

Earlier this month, the younger boy, J.L., testified he rarely saw L.L. before the end of L.L.’s life and spent most of the time in his room.

The brothers are referred to as L.L. and J.L. for CBC's coverage of this trial since their identities are protected under a standard publication ban. L.L. was 12 when he died in Hamber and Cooney’s care on Dec. 21, 2022.

The Burlington, Ont., women have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in L.L.'s death at the trial that began in mid-September in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. They've entered the same plea related to charges of confinement, assault with a weapon — zip ties — and failing to provide the necessaries of life to J.L.

The Crown argues Hamber and Cooney abused and neglected the children.

The trial has been told that paramedics found L.L. unresponsive, soaking wet and lying on the basement floor of his bedroom, which was locked from the outside. Witnesses said he was so severely malnourished and emaciated that he looked as if he could be six years old, even though he was twice that age. He died shortly after in hospital.

The women’s respective lawyers argue the couple were doing their best to care for children with high needs and significant behavioural problems, with little help from the Children's Aid Society (CAS) and service providers.

Witnesses — including first responders, medical experts, teachers, therapists, doctors and J.L. — have testified at the judge-alone trial, which is expected to continue until at least mid-December.

Photos from earlier in their time with Hamber and Cooney show the boys wearing normal clothes, Powers said, but around 2020, pictures show them wearing onesies. Eventually, she said, all photos showed them wearing wetsuits, or wetsuits under normal clothes. 

MacKenzie brought out wetsuits police seized from the couple’s home and showed the court. Powers said she saw photos of the boys wearing them and pointed out where they had holes on the neck to be zip-tied onto the boys. She noted police seized bags containing zip ties of all sizes from the Hamber-Cooney home. 

The defence has said the boys wore wetsuits because they were peeing in the home — an assertion J.L. denied when he testified.