Murdered daughters 'were my life'. Leo Campione.

[natural glow]

More than four years after discovering his two young daughters had been murdered, Leo Campione was too distraught to appear in a Barrie, Ont., courtroom and describe the impact their deaths have had on his life.​

"I see Serena and Sophia in my mind every day and I [will] carry them in my heart until we reunite again," Campione said in a victim impact statement read by a Crown attorney on his behalf. "Serena and Sophia were my life." On Monday, 35-year-old Elaine Campione was convicted of drowning Sophia, who was 19 months old at the time, and her three-year-old sister Serena.​

In court Wednesday, Elaine Campione sat quietly while the statements were read out. She had a solemn expression on her face — a marked difference to Monday, when she broke down in tears after being convicted on two counts of first-degree murder. "We miss their laughter, their smiles and their love for life," said an impact statement from the family also read out in court. "Their mere presence lit up a room.

"The emptiness of losing Sophia and Serena is something we live with everyday, however the joy and memories we shared with them will live on in our memories forever."

The seven-week trial heard that Elaine Campione spent time in psychiatric wards, attempted suicide, had delusions that people were trying to kill her and steal the girls, and exhibited bizarre behaviour, including not letting one of her daughters touch anything red, and claiming she saw aliens.​