New trial for Guy Turcotte, ex-doc who killed kids
QMI Agency
Nov 13, 2013 , Last Updated: 11:50 AM ET
MONTREAL — The Quebec Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for Guy Turcotte, the former cardiologist found not criminally responsible for killing his two children.
The appeals court ruled Wednesday that trial Judge Marc David made a legal error in his instructions to the jury during a 2011 trial north of Montreal.
The Court of Appeal referred to the judge's instructions as "deficient," adding that they "had an impact on the verdict, which could have been different."
The Crown had said a not-criminally responsible verdict should not have been among the jury's options given that Turcotte drank methanol glass cleaner on the night of the killings.
Turcotte admitted that he killed son Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, amid a crumbling marriage in 2009.
But the ex-doctor said he was depressed suicidal and blacked out before killing them.
The court heard he stabbed his children 46 times and that his son begged for his life before the child was butchered.
The jury's decision not to send Turcotte to prison provoked outrage across Canada, prompting some people to call for the death penalty.
Though the appeals court cancelled the controversial verdict on Wednesday, the judges also recognized that "the trial judge had a difficult role to play" because "the prosecution did not always help him by offering a sometimes confused point of view."
Turcotte was freed from a mental hospital in December 2012. It wasn't immediately clear when he would be re-arrested.
His ex-wife Isabelle Gaston, who is also a doctor, says she still feels her life is in danger.
New trial for Guy Turcotte, ex-doc who killed kids
I hope they get it right this time.
QMI Agency
Nov 13, 2013 , Last Updated: 11:50 AM ET
MONTREAL — The Quebec Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for Guy Turcotte, the former cardiologist found not criminally responsible for killing his two children.
The appeals court ruled Wednesday that trial Judge Marc David made a legal error in his instructions to the jury during a 2011 trial north of Montreal.
The Court of Appeal referred to the judge's instructions as "deficient," adding that they "had an impact on the verdict, which could have been different."
The Crown had said a not-criminally responsible verdict should not have been among the jury's options given that Turcotte drank methanol glass cleaner on the night of the killings.
Turcotte admitted that he killed son Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, amid a crumbling marriage in 2009.
But the ex-doctor said he was depressed suicidal and blacked out before killing them.
The court heard he stabbed his children 46 times and that his son begged for his life before the child was butchered.
The jury's decision not to send Turcotte to prison provoked outrage across Canada, prompting some people to call for the death penalty.
Though the appeals court cancelled the controversial verdict on Wednesday, the judges also recognized that "the trial judge had a difficult role to play" because "the prosecution did not always help him by offering a sometimes confused point of view."
Turcotte was freed from a mental hospital in December 2012. It wasn't immediately clear when he would be re-arrested.
His ex-wife Isabelle Gaston, who is also a doctor, says she still feels her life is in danger.
New trial for Guy Turcotte, ex-doc who killed kids
I hope they get it right this time.
