Allyson McConnell

Allyson Meager McConnell (November 1978- 2013) was an Australian resident in Millet, Alberta, Canada who, in 2010, killed her sons by drowning them in a bathtub. She was convicted of manslaughter and deported to Australia. An appeal of her conviction, seeking to return her to Canada for a retrial, was scheduled, but she committed suicide before this could happen.

McConnell originated from Gosford, New South Wales. She testified in a later court hearing that her father had sexual intercourse with her when she was 15 and that this led to a miscarried pregnancy; she did not previously report this incident. According to McConnell, her parents divorced when her sister stated that her father had sexual intercourse with her. Throughout her life Allyson McConnell had engaged in suicide attempts and experienced miscarriages.

In 2006 she met Curtis McConnell at the Delta Ski Resort in Kamloops, British Columbia; both were employed by the resort and she was on a working holiday. She married him in January 2007 while the two were in Australia. In July of that year Connor McConnell was born while they were in that country. The couple later purchased a house in Millet.

Their second child, Jayden, was born in March 2009; at that time Allyson McConnell had started a job in Leduc, Alberta. She later stated in court that she did not plan to have a second child. Allyson McConnell worked for an oil company while her husband worked in a hardware store.

Their marriage encountered problems in the fall of 2009. Curtis McConnell began living in the house's basement. Allyson became upset and depressed as her marriage unraveled.

Curtis filed for divorce in December of that year and moved into his parents' house. At first Allyson McConnell had an amicable relationship with her ex-husband's mother, but then she ended contact with her. The ex-husband and ex-wife entered in a custody dispute; she wanted the children in Australia while he wanted them to remain in Canada. A judge had ruled that the children should remain in Canada.

Allyson McConnell, 33 at the time, drowned both of her children in a bathtub. Connor was two and one half years old and Jayden was ten months old. It is not known when the children were killed. She then drove to Edmonton and, after having a meal, jumped from an overpass, and landed on a road. She had multiple broken bones.

On February 1, 2010, a police officer in Edmonton called Curtis McConnell, informing him of his wife's injury. The officer was not aware of the location and status of the children. Curtis McConnell returned to the house to check on the welfare of the children and used a knife to open the locked bathroom door. He discovered the children's bodies floating in the bathtub and a wedding ring on the toilet seat.

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