Crown seeks appeal for acquittal of Lam sisters in murder trial

OttawaThe Crown is seeking an appeal for the acquittal of two sisters who admitted to killing their elderly mother in her sleep but were ultimately found not guilty of first-degree murder.Chau and Hue Lam admitted to killing their mother but were found not guilty of 1st-degree murderBen Andrews · CBC News · Posted: Aug 29, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoChau Lam, left, and Hue Lam, right, were found not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of their elderly mother Kieu Lam in late October 2022. (Superior Court of Justice/Ottawa police exhibits)The Crown is seeking an appeal for the acquittal of two sisters who admitted to killing their elderly mother in her sleep but were ultimately found not guilty of first-degree murder.Chau and Hue Lam never denied killing their 88-year-old mother Kieu Lam in late October 2022.But in a trial that wrapped earlier this month, a 13-member jury acquitted the sisters of first-degree murder after five days of deliberations.Now, Crown lawyers have filed a notice of appeal seeking a new trial for both sisters.Lawyers argue the trial judge should not have allowed the argument of self-defence or the testimony of a cultural expert to be heard by the jury.The sisters, who were both in their 50s at the time of the killing, came to Canada from Vietnam in the early 1990s. They lived with their mother from their arrival until they killed her in 2022.During the trial, court heard from an academic expert who offered insight into Confucian family values and their influence on the roles of Vietnamese women, including obedience and caregiving responsibilities.Defence lawyers argued the sisters had endured decades of abuse that got worse after Hue Lam developed Parkinson’s disease, and had escalated further still in the week before the killing.Crown prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that the Lam sisters brutally murdered their aging and frail mother.Prosecutors had told the jury the woman was “sleeping defenceless” in bed when the sisters smashed her head with a hammer and strangled her.Chau Lam, who testified during the trial, acknowledged she was “angry” at the time of the killing — as she told police following her arrest.The notice of appeal was submitted Wednesday.