Ontario couple ‘abused, tortured and starved’ boys in their care, Crown says in final arguments

Crown argues the couple are ‘looking to blame anyone but themselves’

We’re back from the break, and Crown lawyer Kelli Frew starts arguments by saying Cooney and Hamber “are looking to blame anyone but themselves” for L.L.’s death.

“They say no one would help them deal with these allegedly unmanageable children,” and to believe they were unmanageable relies on the credibility of the co-accused, she says.

“There is no credibility there.”

The couple “abused, tortured and starved these boys,” she says. They could have given them back at any time.”

She says the couple controlled everything, from when the brothers could use the washroom to how they could hold their arms when they slept.

The boys were not manipulators, she says. Hamber and Cooney were. And if anyone else had adopted them, L.L. would still be alive.