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Portrait of crumbling marriage emerges in court

CALGARY — A portrait of a crumbling marriage emerged Thursday at the trial of a man accused of killing his two children.

CALGARY — A portrait of a crumbling marriage emerged Thursday at the trial of a man accused of killing his two children.

James Bing Jun Louie, 44, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of Jason, 13, and nine-year-old Jane. He is also charged with the attempted murder of his wife, Ling, in November 2009.

The Crown has indicated evidence will show the boy was strangled with a rope while the girl was smothered.

Ling, who now uses the last name Tang, testified that she told Louie the previous August that she wanted a separation after he found emails from another man and accused her of being unfaithful.

“I did tell him they were just emails and the fellow was leaving the country,” she said.

“I told him I was not happy with our marriage.”

Tang, who is an engineer, was the sole supporter of the family and told Louie he could have the paid-for house, their bank accounts and spousal support.

“I just want to be out of this marriage,” she said she told him.

Tang said she was willing to let the children decide which parent they would live with.

“I wanted minimum damage. I believed the children were innocent and they didn’t want to be stuck in this fight.”

The children told their father they wanted to live with their mother, so she rented a house in the same neighbourhood and was planning to live there with them.

The first two officers at the one-time family home the day the children were killed described finding their bodies and then hearing muffled cries from upstairs.

They said Louie was in the washroom and had a rope around his wife’s neck. He continued to pull on the rope despite being confronted by the police officers, who finally managed to subdue Louie and free his wife.