Adele Sorella says she has very little recollection of the day her two daughters died.
Sorella is in her second day of testimony at the Laval courthouse, where she is charged with the first-degree murders of her daughters, Amanda, 9, and Sabrina, 8. The girls’ bodies were discovered inside the family’s home in Laval on March 31, 2009, by Sorella’s relatives.
She was arrested the following day after her car crashed in another part of Laval.
On Wednesday, Sorella said she has no recollection between the morning of March 31, 2009, and when a group of people gathered around her car after it crashed.
“I basically don’t know what happened that day (when the girls died),” Sorella said. “My recollection is not my reality.”
She said that she has listened to witness testimony and read news articles about what happened after the bodies were discovered, including how she convinced her mother the girls weren’t going straight to school that morning. But, she said, she has no personal memories that match what she has read or heard during her trial.
“It wasn’t the natural cycle of life. Your kids don’t go before you do,” Sorella conceded.
Sorella cried as she spoke about the day. Her lawyer, Pierre Poupart, asked for a break and when she resumed her testimony, Sorella was presented with a question from the jury.
The juror who wrote out the question recalled that on Tuesday she said her suicide attempts were accompanied by feelings she couldn’t control. The juror wanted to know if she was ever overwhelmed by feelings that made her want to harm other people.
“The answer is no. I never felt the need to hurt someone else,” Sorella said.
“I never thought of taking someone with me.”