'Control, violence and cruelty': Sisters killed mother to end decades-long abuse, defence argues

The Crown opened its case two weeks ago telling the jury that Kieu Lam gave her daughters life, and they took hers when they killed her as she lay in her bed three years ago.

The defence opened its case Friday admitting — as sisters Chau and Hue Lam have since the night it happened — that yes, they killed her, but Kieu Lam had never given her daughters a real life to speak of.

Instead, the life they knew was one of "isolation ... devoid of love, compassion and protection, and filled with control, violence and cruelty," Chau Lam's lawyer Ewan Lyttle told the jury.

Kieu Lam was ashamed that her daughters weren't married and sometimes couldn't work. She verbally and physically abused them, and that abuse got worse after Hue Lam developed Parkinson's disease, Lyttle said.

The week before the killing, the severity of the abuse "further escalated significantly." And out of fear for their safety, they killed their mother to end it.

The sisters have each pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Ottawa's Superior Court of Justice. The Crown closed its case first thing Friday after formally entering two final exhibits, including Hue Lam's video interview with the homicide's lead investigator. (Both sisters were interviewed, and both interviews were played in court in their entirety earlier this week).

Didn't go to police

Chau Lam will testify, and explain why she and her sister stayed with their abusive mother and didn't go to police, Lyttle said.

He warned the jury that her explanation might be hard to understand for anyone not raised under the pressure of their family's practices and norms, or anyone who hasn't been subjected to decades of abuse from a parent.

"But we hope the evidence you hear will help you understand," he said. 

That evidence is expected to come from Chau Lam as well as her older brothers. 

The trial resumes Monday with the defence's first witnesses. Chau Lam is being represented by Lyttle and Brett McGarry. Hue Lam is representing herself, and the court has appointed defence lawyer Paolo Giancaterino to act an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, to ensure she gets a fair trial.