Father instructed kids to kill their mother, son testifies

The Waterloo Region Courthouse is seen on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. (Brian Dunseith / CTV Kitchener)

Three siblings were ordered by their father to kill their mother and “make it look like she committed suicide,” the oldest child testified Tuesday.

The father is on trial for attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

He was previously convicted of those offences, but won a new trial on appeal and pleaded not guilty on both counts.

A publication ban prevents CTV News from naming any of the people involved in the case.

Tuesday’s testimony began with cross-examination of the mother, who was attacked on Nov. 30, 2007.

She had previously told the court that her two sons – then aged 16 and 14 – dragged her into the bathroom, then attempted to drown her as their 11-year-old sister watched on.

The woman told the court that on one occasion, while she was in the bathtub, her husband came into the room and plugged in an extension cord.

She said she was scared of what could have happened if the cord hit the water, and begged him to unplug the cord and leave the bathroom.

"There is no doubt in my mind he intended to hurt me that day," she said.

The couple have since separated.

The oldest son also took to the witness stand, saying that he and his siblings did intend to kill their mother on that date, and were doing so on their father’s instructions.

“We believed our dad when he was lying to us, saying ‘She’s evil and doesn’t deserve to be around,’” he said.

The son had also been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but told the court he was given an absolute discharge three years after the attack, following his testimony at his father’s first trial.

He testified that his father had told the trio “If you care for me, you’ll do it” and had been rebuffed on a previous attempt to get the children to kill their mother.

“It’s OK to kill someone, if you ask God for forgiveness,” he recalled his father saying.

The son said that when the struggle ended, he was crying and apologizing to his mother because he “knew it wasn’t right.”

The trial continues Wednesday.