A woman in Canada killed her two sons days after her husband died of cancer, saying she committed the crime so they could all be “reunited in Heaven.”
Vanessa Collias pleaded guilty to killing her sons in 2023 at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto on Monday (November 17).
Collias suffocated her children, 5-year-old Yiannis and 4-year-old Dimitri, after her 72-year-old husband, Costa, died from an aggressive form of leukemia, as per the Toronto Star.
A Toronto mother pleaded guilty to taking the lives of her two young sons just days after her husband succumbed to leukemia
Image credits: Toronto Police
Trigger warning: This article contains references to the murder of children and to suicide
After killing her children, the 27-year-old mother jumped from the balcony of their apartment in an attempt to take her own life.
She was found injured on the ground on December 10, 2023, and was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Upon entering the Toronto apartment, police found the bodies of the two brothers lying side by side in front of a TV with a children’s show playing.
The mother had reportedly left notes for the police and a list of family phone numbers. She had also laid out her sons’ funeral clothing and birth certificates next to a picture of their deceased father, and placed a cross beside their bodies.
Police found the boys, ages 4 and 5, lifeless in the family’s apartment alongside funeral clothes
Yiannis and Dimitri were transported to the hospital, where they were both pronounced deceased.
Collias was initially charged with first-degree murder, but the charges were downgraded to second-degree murder after a forensic psychiatrist concluded that she was suffering from “an adjustment disorder” after Costa succumbed to leukemia on December 1, 2023.
She told the psychiatrist that she was “broken, absolutely alone, and unable to conceive of continuing a life without (her husband) and wanted all of them to be reunited in Heaven.”
During her virtual court appearance, Collias appeared visibly emotional as she read a lengthy statement admitting to the crime.
“I want to start off by apologizing to everyone my actions hurt and to the people I have let down,” she said.
The 27-year-old admitted that she needed help and questioned herself for not seeking support.
“I stand in front of you a broken person. I wonder if I’m damaged beyond repair because I feel life has shattered my hopes and dreams,” she said.
After suffocating the children, the 27-year-old attempted to take her own life by jumping from their apartment balcony
She later addressed her deceased children, saying, “To my babies, I love you more than anything. Thank you for showing me what true love is. You guys will forever be my favorite part of me.
“I am so grateful I got to be your mom. The hardest thing I will ever have to do is to learn to be OK being here without you.”
Collias was still sentenced to life in prison without parole for at least 18 years.
In court, the mother apologized for the crime and referred to the boys as her “babies”
According to court documents, she said she was aware that what she did was wrong, but hoped “others would understand that her intent was to save her sons and to be with her husband so that they could all be together.”
Collias told the court she was “exhausted” from being her husband’s “round-the-clock” caretaker and watching him slowly deteriorate.
She said that on December 10, nine days after Costa’s passing, she “hit a wall and couldn’t push no more.”
Collias’ letter to police found in her apartment contained apologies and pleas for forgiveness to family members, according to a CBC report. She stated that her “biggest regret” was not being successful in previous suicide attempts.
The report by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Sumeeta Chatterjee concluded that, while the mother is sane enough to recognize that what she did is immoral, she’s “the product of persistent childhood trauma that informed her adult views of the world, sense of safety and relationships.”
The Toronto resident was the primary caretaker of her husband, who was 45 years her senior
It also read that Collias’ history of trauma “formed the foundation of a sudden and severely maladaptive and tragic coping response following the unexpected death of the only source of security she had in life.”
Ingrid Grant, Collias’ lawyer, told the court that her client “saw no way forward” after becoming a widow and single mother.
Grant added that Collias’ relationship with her late husband, who was 45 years her senior, was unconventional and co-dependent.
“Her birth family is supportive of her, but she saw them as people who could not protect her nor could children’s aid protect her so she saw no way for her children to be protected without her and she saw no way to go on without her husband.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
“This is why consistent mental health is important,” expressed one netizen
