Powerful last message from murder victim to her abusive ex read in court after his guilty verdicts

It was haunting, at the end of the trial that found her murderer Hamid Ayoub guilty, to hear a message Hanadi Mohammed wrote to her tormentor of many years — the abusive husband she had finally left — nine months before he stabbed her dozens of times, taking her life.

Translated to English from Arabic, it opens: "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil. In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful."

Mohammed wrote in anguished tones of being slapped, kicked, beaten and insulted by Ayoub, "even when I was pregnant." She wrote of coming from Sudan to Canada with their children to be with him, only to find that his behaviour hadn't changed, and of being threatened and told that he married her only so she could serve him.

"I tell you goodbye and my relationship with you is over and no matter what happens I won't go back with my decision," she wrote. "And I want to let you know that I am not your slave."

'Give them love and tenderness'

But even after years of abuse at his hands, Mohammed wished him well, "to find the halal girl that will make you happy and comfortable," and to have a relationship with their two kids, both young adults.

"They are your children, I won't prevent them from you, and they have no guilt.... And my commandment to you is to get your children close to you and give them love and tenderness and be their father and friend, because you never know if anything in the world may happen to you, then you will find them next to you standing by your side."

That hopeful vision did not come to pass.

A jury of nine women and three men took about five hours to find Ayoub, 63, guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the June, 15, 2021, stabbings of Mohammed and their daughter, who was then 22 and is now 26.

She was critically injured, but managed to survive after playing dead.

'You destroyed the only home we had left'

In powerful victim impact statements read by prosecutor Louise Tansey after the verdicts, Ayoub's daughter and son condemned his actions and vowed never to forgive him. CBC News has agreed not to name the children to protect their mental health.

"You didn't protect us. You hurt us, over and over, with your violence and cruelty. And every time you lashed out, every time you caused pain, [we] grew more distant from you," one of the statements read.

"You didn't just take her life; you destroyed the only home we had left.... We are broken, shattered and lost without her. You've taken our future, our sense of security, and the only person who truly loved us unconditionally," read the other.

The daughter testified against her father earlier in the trial via closed-circuit video from another room at the courthouse because she couldn't bear to be in the same room with him.

On Tuesday she watched the proceeding virtually while her brother sat in the courtroom next to investigators. He quietly nodded his head in agreement as the guilty verdicts were delivered. And later, when Justice Kevin Phillips told the siblings their mother would be proud of them, his eyes grew wet with tears.

'The community needs to be protected from you for all time'

Phillips addressed Ayoub directly, calling him "misogynist, controlling."

"You failed as a husband, you failed as a father, you failed as a man. The community needs to be protected from you for all time. I denounce your horrific and shameful conduct," Phillips said, sentencing Ayoub to the mandatory life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for Mohammed's murder.

Turning to the stabbing of his daughter, Phillips said "the attempt to kill one's own children is the worst sort of attempted murder. This is especially so given ... that you were motivated by a perceived loss of control over the women in your life."

The defence had argued for a concurrent sentence of 14 years for the attempted murder, but the judge sided with the Crown, giving Ayoub the maximum 25 years, concurrently.

'We have to do better'

Outside the courthouse, lead investigator Det. Chris Benson said he's happy with the verdict and thankful to the bystanders who called police, followed Ayoub's vehicle and stopped to help the victims.

As for the children, "It is a lot for them to process," Benson said. "I think they will continue to heal; it will take time. It's not an easy route ahead for them. They have no family. They lost their family."

The trial heard evidence of past calls to Ottawa police about Ayoub's abuse of Mohammed in the months and years before his attacks, none of which resulted in charges.

"Assistant Crown attorney Tansey said it well: as members of the criminal justice system, we have to do better," Benson said. "We have to do better to protect society, to protect women in these relationships. Everyone has to do better, from the police, to the courts, to the judges with sentencing."

In one instance in 2013, a detective in the intimate partner violence unit chose not to charge Ayoub for holding a knife to Mohammed's neck because Mohammed thought it would make things worse. The decision was made in spite of the fact that police are duty bound to lay charges in domestic cases regardless of what victims want.

"That fear is understandable. The trust in the system is not there. And in a lot of instances, I don't blame them," Benson said. "These violent offenders have to be kept off the street."

Ayoub had pleaded not guilty at the beginning of his trial on Sept. 16. Tansey and co-Crown counsel Cecilia Bouzane rejected his guilty pleas to lesser charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault.

He was represented by Leo Russomanno and Omar Abou El Hassan. They had no comment after Tuesday's verdicts.

Ottawa Morning8:45Ottawa man found guilty of first-degree murder in stabbing death of estranged wife

A jury found Hamid Ayoub guilty of murdering his eestranged wife and attempting to murder his daughter in a stabbing attack three years ago. CBC Ottawa’s justice reporter Kristy Nease joins host Hallie Cotnam in studio with the details of the case.