Closing arguments concluded Friday in the chilling first-degree murder trial of Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney, the Ontario couple accused of the 2022 starvation and confinement death of their 12-year-old prospective adoptive son.
The trial, which has gripped Canada since it began in September 2025, centers on the death of a boy identified in court as L.L. When investigators discovered his body in the basement of the couple’s Burlington home, the child weighed just 48 pounds.
Central to the Crown’s case is a digital trail of 8,000 text messages exchanged between Hamber, 46, and Cooney, 44. Prosecutors Kelli Frew and Monica MacKenzie argued these messages prove a calculated environment of cruelty.
In one exchange from November 2022, Cooney reportedly wrote: “Unfortunately my thoughts [are] he is suddenly going to die and im going to jail.” Other messages featured the women referring to their home as the “Hamber Cooney prison,” openly mocking the suffering of the children in their care.
The investigation gained momentum following the testimony of L.L.’s younger brother, J.L., who escaped the household. He detailed a harrowing existence where the brothers were:
- Restrained with industrial zip ties.
- Locked in bedrooms for hours under constant camera surveillance.
- Deprived of basic necessities.
Beyond first-degree murder, Hamber and Cooney face charges of forcible confinement, assault with a weapon, and failure to provide the necessities of life.
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Defense attorney Monte MacGregor conceded that the women’s behavior was “questionable if not unlawful” but maintained it did not constitute murder. He characterized the graphic text messages—including one where a defendant allegedly mocked the child’s shivering—as “dark humor and frustration” rather than evidence of homicidal intent.
The defense further argued that L.L. may have suffered from an eating disorder, suggesting the couple intended to seek treatment for him. This follows testimony from Ontario’s deputy chief forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Pickup, who stated an official cause of death could not be determined, though he cited hypothermia and cardiac arrest due to malnutrition as potential factors.
Justice Clayton Conlan is now tasked with weighing the mountain of digital evidence against the defense’s claims of parental burnout. A court date is scheduled for April 24, 2026, where the judge is expected to provide an update on his final ruling.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Hamber and Cooney face mandatory life sentences. For now, a community waits for justice in a case that has exposed profound failures in the oversight of prospective adoptive homes.
