Couple takes in two brothers for adoption. But then the police finds the older 12yo boy in the basement, looking like a ‘holocaust survivor’

A Canadian couple has been convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a 12-year-old boy they were in the process of adopting. Becky Hamber, 46, and Brandy Cooney, 44, also faced charges of confinement, assault with a weapon, and failing to provide the necessaries of life for their treatment of the deceased child’s 10-year-old brother. According to People, the trial concluded on May 5, when Ontario Justice Clayton Conlan delivered his verdict.

The two women were accused of keeping the 12-year-old boy locked in his basement bedroom for 18 hours a day. By the time he passed away, he weighed only 48 pounds. Justice Conlan, in his 300-page decision, noted that the choice to isolate and confine the victim while withholding food demonstrated an intention to kill the boy. 

The younger brother, who testified during the trial, recounted witnessing the victim slowly die from severe malnutrition in the weeks leading up to his final breath on December 10, 2024. During his testimony, the younger boy mentioned his brother weighed as little as 43 pounds at one point, and a defense attorney even remarked that the victim looked like a “Holocaust survivor.” 

If that wasn’t horrifying enough, the details of how these ‘parents’ behaved are gut-churning

There are horrific descriptions of child abuse from here on out. Please read with care.

The environment inside the couple’s Burlington, Ontario, home was one of constant surveillance and control. CBC reported that the brothers were kept in their rooms from 6 p.m. until noon most days. To ensure the children remained confined, the couple utilized video cameras to monitor them, and they even suspended chimes above doors to alert them to any movement. 

The boys were often forced to wear wetsuits that were zip-tied so they could not be removed, and they were sometimes restrained with hockey helmets to prevent them from hitting themselves. Cooney claimed these extreme measures were necessary to protect themselves and the boys from self-harm and violent outbursts, stating, “There were a lot of injuries over the years. We were often hit, punched, kicked, stuff thrown at us.”

Despite these claims of physical danger, prosecutors pointed out a lack of medical documentation to support the women’s narratives. Cooney alleged that one of the boys caused Hamber to fracture her arm after shoving her, yet no medical records of a clinic visit or professional treatment for such an injury were provided to the court. 

Justice Conlan ultimately found the testimony of the surviving brother more credible than that of his adoptive mothers. The judge wrote that he found the evidence provided by the accused to be “replete with contradictions, inconsistencies and things lacking in basic common sense.”

The cruelty extended to the daily routines, too. While locked in their rooms, the boys were required to perform physical tasks like burpees or wall sits while being watched on cameras. The women also used exercise as a form of punishment. 

In a text message sent on Christmas Eve, Cooney told Hamber, “Tell them good luck figuring out burpees in the shower when they b***h about never having food.” Other text messages revealed a pattern of verbal abuse, with the women using derogatory terms to describe the boys and mocking them for struggling with basic needs like using the washroom.

The most damning evidence against the couple came in the form of a text message sent by Cooney to Hamber just one month before the boy’s death. Cooney wrote, “Unfortunately my thoughts [are] he is suddenly going to die and im (sic) going to jail.” Justice Conlan addressed this specific message in his ruling, noting that he could not be persuaded that an innocent mother would ever send such a text to her spouse under those circumstances.

The brothers, referred to as L.L. and J.L. due to a publication ban, had been in the care of Hamber and Cooney since 2017. Throughout the trial, the defense attempted to argue that the boys caused extensive property damage and were difficult to manage, but this was countered by the stark reality of the children’s physical state. 

The younger brother testified that he would sometimes urinate in his room because he could not hold it any longer, and the court heard how the women would scold the older brother for “peeing and pooping himself.” The case will move toward a sentencing hearing later this year.