Canadian couple convicted of first-degree murder in death of 12-year-old son

A Canadian couple has been convicted of first-degree murder following the death of a 12-year-old boy they were in the process of adopting.

Becky Hamber, 46, and Brandy Cooney, 44, were found guilty on 5 May after a bench trial that detailed years of horrific abuse and confinement.

Ontario Justice Clayton Conlan also convicted the pair of assault with a weapon, forcible confinement, and failing to provide the necessaries of life regarding the victim’s surviving 10-year-old brother.

The court heard that the boys were locked in a basement bedroom for 18 hours a day, where the victim eventually died, weighing just 48 pounds.

Prosecutors revealed the children were forced to wear wetsuits that were zip-tied shut to prevent them from eating or moving freely.

In his 300-page decision, Justice Conlan wrote that the systematic deprivation of food and isolation "demonstrated an intention to kill the boy."

The judge ultimately found the testimony of the surviving brother credible, while dismissing the defendants' evidence as "lacking in basic common sense."

During the trial, incriminating text messages were introduced, including one where Cooney admitted her fear that the boy would "suddenly die" and she would go to jail.

Although the defence argued the couple were frustrated parents struggling with children who had developmental issues, the prosecution successfully proved a deliberate pattern of starvation and torture.

The boys, aged just 10 and 8 when the abuse began, were monitored via video cameras while being forced to perform physical punishments. The convicted murderers will remain in custody pending their sentencing hearing later this year.