Trial underway for Ottawa couple accused of killing 7-week-old baby boy

An Ottawa couple accused of killing a seven-week-old baby have pleaded not guilty to second degree murder. CTV’s Katie Griffin reports.

Warning: This story contains disturbing details.

The trial for an Ottawa couple accused of killing a seven-week-old baby boy named Colton in October 2021 is now underway.

Boravy Buth, the baby’s mother, and Patrick O’Connor have both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Emergency crews were called to a home in the Britannia area in Ottawa’s west end around 4:30 a.m. on October 26, 2021, for a baby who wasn’t breathing.

Buth was taken to the hospital by a police officer to be with the baby and O’Connor stayed behind at the home—two of his children were sleeping upstairs.

The infant was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.

One of the first police officers on scene testified Wednesday that, upon learning of the baby’s death, O’Connor’s tears “did not appear to be genuine.”

“His tears, despite crying and the liquid being on his face, your opinion was that those tears and that emotional reaction did not appear genuine to you, correct?” Buth’s lawyer Natasha Calvinho asked Ottawa Police Const. Michael Showler during cross-examination.

“Yes,” Showler replied.

Showler testified that when he asked what happened, O’Connor told him that Buth was a heavy sleeper and fell asleep around 2 a.m. while breastfeeding Colton on a bed that was in the living room. He said the baby had fallen off the bed and hit his head first on the side of the bed frame and then on the floor. Showler estimated from the top of the mattress to the floor was about a foot to a foot-and-a half drop.

O’Connor told the officer Colton appeared fine and that he told Buth to go upstairs to get more sleep while he took care of the infant.

O’Connor said he was holding Colton facing him, laid down and fell asleep holding him in bed and, “When he woke up, the child was cold to the touch and not breathing, his words,” Showler testified.

Showler said the baby appeared purple and stiff when he was being carried into an ambulance.

During cross-examination, Calvinho suggested to Showler that O’Connor’s demeanour was in stark contrast to Buth, who was “crying, pacing, visibly upset, shaking,” and that O’Connor was oversharing a number of personal details.

“At times, Mr. O’Connor would give you more information than you were asking for, and sometimes he’d be answering things you weren’t asking for. That to you seemed odd, right? Weird?” Calvinho put to Showler.

“Yes,” he replied.

During cross-examination, one of O’Connor’s lawyers argued Showler specifically noted he was upset upon learning of Colton’s death but never indicated in his notes that he felt O’Connor’s tears were not genuine.

“At the time there was absolutely nothing in your notes about perceiving any of his emotional responses to have been fake,” Shira Brass put to Showler, “…because it was not your impression at the time that his response was fake.”

Showler acknowledged the thoughts were not in his notes.

“I’m human. Sometimes we make mistakes,” he said. “I still had that inkling and it’s taken time for it to come out for me and to have recollection and more in-depth recollection of the event, that’s where that came from.”

The trial is expected to last eight weeks.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App