Sorella and her mother missed doctor's appointment on day her daughters found dead, court hears

Adele Sorella and her mother, Teresa Di Cesare, missed a doctor's appointment on the day Sorella's two daughters were found dead in 2009.

Di Cesare is testifying at her daughter's murder trial today, before Superior Court Justice Sophie Bourque and a jury of six men and six women.

Sorella has pleaded not guilty to two charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of her two daughters: Amanda, 9, and Sabrina, 8.

The morning of March 31, 2009 began as any other in the Sorella household, Di Cesare said as she answered questions from Crown prosecutor Simon Lapierre.

The kids were served milk with a bit of coffee —​ lait macchiato, Di Cesare called it in French — 'S'-shaped cookies and Special K cereal, she testified.

"The only thing [different] was that I was leaving, but it wasn't the first time that I did that," Di Cesare said.

She testified that she was heading to her sister's place on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal. 

Sorella was to take Amanda and Sabrina to school. Then, she would pick her mother up in Montreal and they would head to an 11:30 a.m. doctor's appointment together.

'Ma', we missed the appointment'

But Sorella never showed up to get her mother. Di Cesare said that when Sorella wasn't there by 11 a.m., she called her daughter's cellphone after there was no answer on her home phone.

Sorella told her mother that she was too late and they would have to miss the doctor's appointment, Di Cesare testified.

"She said, 'Ma', we missed the appointment.' She said, 'I can't come,' and she didn't come. That's it," Di Cesare said.

Lapierre asked Di Cesare if it was out of the ordinary for her daughter to miss doctor's appointments.

"I don't know, but it happened with me that day. But with the kids, I don't think she ever missed appointments," she said.

A few hours later, she left her sister's and headed back to the Sorella home in Laval, where she had been living since Sorella's husband, Giuseppe De Vito, went into hiding. De Vito was wanted by police on drug-related charges.

Mother at first happy to see her sons at Sorella home

When Di Cesare arrived around 4 p.m., she was happy, at first, to see her two sons, Enzo and Luigi Sorella.

"I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm spoiled tonight. I have my three children under the same roof,'" she told the court.

The three found Amanda and Sabrina's lifeless bodies lying on the floor of their playroom moments later.

As Di Cesare described discovering the two girls, she told the court she wasn't feeling well.

Her hands shook and she covered her mouth, then took a sip of water, trying to compose herself. She took deep breaths and paused between sentences, before finally asking for a break.

Enzo Sorella, who accompanied his mother to court, stood up to help her out of the room. He appeared to have been crying during her testimony.