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A plugged-in hair dryer and hair iron are seen lying in a tub full of water in the master ensuite in a photo provided by the court at the trial of Allyson McConnell in Wetaskiwin, Alta., on Monday, March 12, 2012.Handout/THE CANADIAN PRESS

An Alberta woman charged with killing her two sons says she has no memory of drowning the boys two years ago.

Allyson McConnell is testifying in her own defence at her second-degree murder trial in Wetaskiwin, Alta.

She told court that she has suffered from depression for years and tried to commit suicide several times.

Ms. McConnell, who is 33, said that when she was growing up in Australia, she was abused by her father, who got her pregnant, although she miscarried.

She described how unhappy she was when she moved to Canada and how she would take showers and write on the wall ways to kill herself.

Ms. McConnell has admitted to drowning two-year-old Connor and 10-month-old Jayden in the bathtub of the family home, but has pleaded not guilty.

The central issue at trial is her state of mind when she did it – the same day she killed her children, she tried to commit suicide by jumping off an Edmonton overpass.

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