Latest news with #KieuLam
CBC
03-08-2025
- CBC
Lam sisters acquitted in 2022 killing of their 88-year-old mother
A jury has found Hue and Chau Lam not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing their mother almost three years ago. It took the 13 jurors five days to make their finding, which was delivered late Sunday afternoon at the Ottawa Courthouse. Throughout the trial, there was no doubt the sisters killed 88-year-old Kieu Lam in her sleep. In the end, their argument that they acted in self-defence after enduring decades of abuse was accepted by the jury. Crown prosecutors had argued that Chau, 59, and Hue, 62, brutally murdered their aging and frail mother as she lay sleeping in her bed, using a hammer and string to do so. Justice Narissa Somji delivered her instructions to the jury Tuesday night, before sending them to deliberate on a verdict. The trial started at the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa in June.
CBC
11-07-2025
- CBC
Forensic psychiatrist, cultural expert testify at sisters' murder trial
A forensic psychiatrist testified in an Ottawa courtroom this week that two sisters accused of murdering their mother in 2022 had been living in a chronic state of emotional distress before their alleged crime. Chau Lam, 59, and Hue Lam, 62, have each pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of their 88-year-old mother Kieu Lam in late October 2022. The jury trial began in June at the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa. Prosecutors have argued Kieu Lam gave her daughters life, only to have her own taken. They previously described the older woman as "sleeping defenceless" in bed when the sisters allegedly smashed her head with a hammer and strangled her. The sisters don't deny killing their mother, but have said they did it to protect themselves from further abuse — abuse they say intensified after Hue Lam was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Sisters were abused, psychiatrist concludes The court heard evidence from Dr. Zeynep Selaman, who met with both sisters and reviewed other relevant material before being called upon by Chau Lam's defence lawyers to testify. Selaman said in her expert opinion, the sisters suffered long-term abuse that only worsened over time. Selaman said Chau Lam showed signs of a persistent depressive disorder as well as a pattern of "learned helplessness" stemming from her lack of autonomy growing up. Chau Lam had adapted to living in a state of high alert, her sense of hopelessness reinforced by her inability to improve her situation, Selaman said. Court heard previously that attempts by the sisters and other family members to relocate their mother to a retirement home had failed. One brother, Minh Hyunh, testified their mother had maintained control over the sisters when they lived in Vietnam, and that she used violence, including hitting them with objects. The behaviour continued after the family moved to Canada, he said. Another brother, Chanh Hyunh, testified he was well aware of the difficult situation his sisters were in, living alone with their mother decades after the family came to Canada from Vietnam. Selaman said the abuse had become "normalized," and said the brothers had grown "dismissive" of their mother's behaviour. Accused changed her tone: Crown During cross-examination by the Crown, court heard how Chau Lam's initial statements to Selaman when they first met for an evaluation earlier this year described the abuse in milder terms — being called a "bad girl," for example. Earlier, Lam spent three emotional days in the witness box detailing the abuse in much starker terms. "It felt like mom had a knife and she would pull it out and slap me, and pull it out and slap me again," she testified earlier. Selaman agreed Chau Lam's testimony was "perhaps crueller" than her earlier descriptions, but stuck to her professional opinion that the Lam sisters had been abused. She said it was possible Chau Lam had softened her initial descriptions out of shame or embarrassment. Saleman disagreed with prosecutors that the sisters had exaggerated their claims of abuse during the trial, but did not entirely reject the possibility of malignancy. "It does not change my overall diagnostic opinion," she said. Cultural expert testifies Earlier in the week, an academic expert offered court insight into Confucian family values and their influence on the roles of Vietnamese women, including obedience and caregiving responsibilities. The family arrived in Canada in the early 1990s and the sisters lived with their mother until her death in 2022. Danièle Bélanger, who studies global migration processes at Laval University, described the concept of "filial piety" — a moral obligation for children to care for elders — as central to family dynamics in Vietnam, explaining how daughters must demonstrate obedience and self-sacrifice. That obedience is instilled in children from a young age, Bélanger said, and reinforced through language and social hierarchy. Bélanger described how harsh insults can be used as tools of discipline in such a setting, and explained to the jury how unmarried women are often stigmatized in traditional Vietnamese culture. The trial is currently behind schedule, but the defence is expected to close its case next week. The jury is expected to begin deliberations before the end of next week.
CBC
27-06-2025
- CBC
Prosecutors press Chau Lam on her mother's killing
Crown prosecutors spent the better part of two days this week pressing Chau Lam about the 2022 killing of her 88-year-old mother. Chau Lam, 59, and her sister Hue Lam, 62, each pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the October 2022 death of their mother, Kieu Lam. The jury trial began earlier this month in the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa. Testifying in Vietnamese through a translator, Chau Lam began her testimony earlier this week by telling the court she loved her mother — and that she killed her. "I was scared my mother would hit my sister to death, she would hit me to death," she said. "Sometimes she just used a stick to hit us in the head. We had to protect ourselves." Since their arrest, the sisters have said they endured years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their mother. During Chau Lam's testimony, the court heard about her mother's history of medical issues, including a fractured hip and shoulder, and repeated visits to doctors and hospitals in the years leading up to her death. Chau Lam told the jury her mother never directly threatened to kill them, but said the violence had been escalating before the killing. Under cross-examination, Chau Lam could not point to any specific serious assaults or injuries inflicted by her mother. She also agreed there were no defensive wounds on her body when she was arrested. Prosecutors challenged the defence's argument the sisters were under their mother's control, noting that one held a job, they attended temple and both had taken English classes. The Crown has argued Kieu Lam gave life to her daughters, only to have hers taken. Prosecutors previously told the jury the woman was "sleeping defenceless" in bed when the sisters smashed her head with a hammer and strangled her. Chau Lam acknowledged that she was "angry" at the time of the killing — as she told police following her arrest. Difficult testimony The court recessed several times Thursday and Friday as Chau Lam became emotional under questioning. At one point, she broke down while describing how the abuse worsened after her sister was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. "I'm a human being. I know what is right and what is wrong," she said. "It's not that my mom just scolded us a few times and then we would get upset and kill our mom," she added, saying if her mom had given them "a little bit of love" they would be content. As testimony continued, Chau at one point Thursday said she could no longer go on. "No matter how many times, you will not understand," she told the court. "I will now stop talking. The more I talk, the more it looks like I tried to blame my mom, so I [will] stop talking." Court was adjourned for the day. It resumed Friday with further cross-examination focused on the condition of the victim, who was 88 years old and used a walker. After 16 minutes of questioning, Chau again became emotional and another break was required. She told the jury: "The more people talk, people say that I try to blame my mom. My mom's already dead. If my mom was still alive, then I am not sitting here."
CBC
25-06-2025
- CBC
Chau Lam details years of abuse before mother's killing
Testifying at her murder trial Wednesday, Chau Lam sobbed as she described how her 88-year-old mother dug her fingernails into her forehead while she tried to trim them for her. "She scolded me and then she put her nail to the middle of my forehead," Lam told the court. Chau Lam, 59, and her sister Hue Lam, 62, have each pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the October 2022 death of their mother, Kieu Lam. The jury trial began earlier this month in the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa. Lam's testimony, translated from Vietnamese, began with her admitting to loving her mother, but also to killing her. That set the tone for a long, emotional day of testimony in front of jurors as Lam recounted numerous instances when her mother scolded and attacked her. "Sometimes for no reason, mother scolded or hit us," she testified. The sisters have said they suffered through years of abuse at the hands of their mother, and Lam described the constant attacks to being stabbed. "It felt like mom had a knife and she would pull it out and slap me, and pull it out and slap me again," she said. During her testimony, Lam said there was no affection in the home where "mom did not allow" the sisters to learn English and prevented them from having a social life. "Mother was never home alone, I was always there with her," Lam said. Lam said the abuse got worse after her older sister was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and their mother returned home from a failed attempt to place her in a nursing home. She said Kieu Lam required constant attention, and the sisters did all the cooking and cleaning. She described the household as "like a funeral home." Lam said they did not want to tell police nor anyone else about the abuse because they feared their mother would "beat the both of us to death" if she found out. In the week leading up the the killing, Lam said she and her sister were being abused daily. Crown disputes sisters' account Prosecutors have argued Kieu Lam gave the sisters life, only to have hers taken. They have previously described the older woman as "sleeping defenceless" in bed when the sisters smashed her head with a hammer and strangled her. The Crown pointed to the mother's age and weakness to argue that she posed no physical threat to her daughters, and noted they were largely free to leave the house for work, appointments and temple. Two of Kieu Lam's sons testified earlier this week that their sisters had endured years of verbal and physical abuse. On Monday, Chanh Hyunh, 64, told the jury he had heard his mother verbally abuse his sisters, and repeated what he had previously told police after her death — that their mother was "the evil one." He admitted however that he had seen their mother physically assault his sisters only once in 30 years, and had not witnessed verbal abuse beyond what was described in court as "nagging." Earlier in the trial, the jury saw video interviews recorded with both sisters hours after their mother's death. In the interviews, conducted at Ottawa police headquarters on Oct. 31, 2022, they admitted to killing their mother as she slept. One sister also told a 911 dispatcher and responding officers what they had done. The sisters said in the recordings that they were "so angry" after years of emotional and physical abuse.
CBC
24-06-2025
- CBC
Brothers testify sisters accused of killing mother suffered years of abuse
Two brothers of two women on trial for killing their 88-year-old mother testified this week that their sisters were longtime victims of verbal and physical abuse, and likely acted in self-defence. Chau Lam, 59, and Hue Lam, 62, have each pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of their mother, Kieu Lam. The jury trial began earlier this month in the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa. On Monday, their 64-year-old brother, Chahn Hyunh, testified he was well aware of the difficult situation his sisters were in, living alone with their mother decades after the family came to Canada from Vietnam. "I strongly felt they should not be living together," he told the court, recounting a failed attempt to place their mother in a nursing home. "Things were getting too serious." Hyunh told the jury he had heard his mother verbally abuse his sisters, and repeated what he had previously told police after her death — that their mother was "the evil one." The defence argues the sisters were afraid for their safety after years of alleged abuse. During his testimony, Hyunh read aloud what was described in court as a suicide note written by Hue Lam to her sister after their mother's death. "Little sister, thank you for taking care of me and I wish we would be sisters again. I'm leaving now.… I'm sorry I have to leave you but I have no choice," the note read, as translated by Hyunh. 'I definitely would have stopped it' Under cross-examination, Hyunh called a Crown question about his time in a refugee camp "bullshit." He later apologized to the court, explaining he was under stress. He told the jury he did not know his sisters planned to kill their mother. "Had I known, I definitely would have stopped it," he said. The Crown pointed out that Hyunh had advised his sisters to leave the home. He admitted he had seen their mother physically assault them only once in 30 years and had not witnessed verbal abuse beyond what he described as "nagging." On Tuesday, another brother, Minh Hyunh, offered further details of life inside the family home. The older brother told the court that after he moved out, bringing his mother with him to his new home wasn't an option due to her behaviour, and because his wife was not comfortable with her moving in. He testified their mother had maintained control over the sisters when they lived in Vietnam and that she used violence, including hitting them with objects. The behaviour continued after the familt moved to Canada, according to the brothers. Mother 'didn't change' after arrival in Canada Minh Hyunh said he lived with his mother and sisters for about a decade starting in 1992. Though he worked outside the home, he said he witnessed frequent outbursts from his mother including screaming and scolding over small matters. He said their mother would belittle them for not being married and often became angry without warning. "She didn't change when she came to Canada," he said, describing how the sisters did all the chores and cared for their mother, who did not speak English. He told police he believed his sisters were "very scared" of their mother and said she "liked to be in control of everything." He described feeling "stiff," "weakened" and "paralyzed" around her, and said the entire family "suffered" from her behaviour. He recalled an incident about a month before her death when he rushed over after getting a call from the sisters and found one of them restraining the mother from hitting them. Earlier in the trial, the jury saw video interviews recorded with both sisters hours after their mother's death. In the interviews, conducted at Ottawa police headquarters on Oct. 31, 2022, the sisters admitted to killing their mother as she slept. One of the sisters also told a 911 dispatcher and responding police officers what they had done. The sisters told investigators they were "so angry" after years of emotional and physical abuse. The only significant difference in the sisters' statements to police was about their remaining family: When asked if they had any, Chau Lam said no.
