CANADA • Anne-Sophie, 3 & Olivier, 5 TURCOTTE ~ Montreal QC

Quebec doc who killed his kids granted some outings
June 05, 2012


Guy Turcotte holds his daughter Anne-Sophie in an undated handout photo. (Montreal La Presse / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

MONTREAL — A former Quebec doctor who stabbed his two children 46 times but was found not criminally responsible in the deaths will remain at a psychiatric hospital while gradually being allowed more freedom.

Five experts ruled Tuesday that Guy Turcotte must stay detained for at least six more months, but will be allowed some escorted outings beginning immediately.

They said the trips can be suspended by hospital officials if Turcotte's mental state deteriorates or if public safety is threatened in a significant way.

The Crown and the facility wanted Turcotte to stay at the hospital for at least another year. Turcotte's lawyer argued he was ready to be released into the community.

But the mental-health panel decided neither solution fit Turcotte's case.

"The commission concludes that the accused remains very fragile," says the 17-page ruling.

"The evidence has not shown that (Turcotte) has acquired the skills necessary to meet the very great difficulties he will encounter during his rehabilitation."

Over the next three months, Turcotte will be allowed trips of up to eight hours a day while escorted by a family member. After 90 days, he will be able to leave the facility unescorted, moving gradually up to eight hours a day.

After five months, he will be allowed to leave unescorted up to 16 hours a day and can stay overnight with family members as long as they are with him.

Turcotte is also forbidden from having contact with his ex-wife, Isabelle Gaston, or her new partner, or be within 500 metres of their home or place of employment. Gaston has said she opposes his release and fears for her safety.

A new hearing for Turcotte has been scheduled for this December.

In February 2009, Turcotte stabbed five-year-old Olivier and three-year-old Anne-Sophie nearly four dozen times as they slept in their beds.

He admitted causing the deaths but denied intent. The Crown had charged him with two counts of first-degree murder, but a jury found him not criminally responsible, a verdict that sparked widespread public outcry.

Turcotte testified at his trial he was distraught over the breakup of his marriage and that he didn't remember committing the act.

Turcotte insisted in testimony he's fought off depression, is ready to confront an angry public and is looking forward to continuing therapy outside hospital walls.

But the experts determined there is no guarantee he would adapt well to the stress of everyday life.

"This great fragility and lack of means developed by the accused to counter it constitutes a real risk of relapse," the ruling states. "This risk is not hypothetical but rather well substantiated by the evidence."

A Crown spokesman in Quebec City says they'll look at the ruling before making any further comment.

Rene Verret said prosecutors have 15 days to appeal the decision.

The Crown has also said it's appealing the criminal verdict because it believes the judge erred in his instructions to the jury. The Quebec Court of Appeal has yet to rule on whether it will hear the case.

A former cardiologist, Turcotte gave up his right to be a doctor in 2009, according to the Quebec College of Physicians.

He has expressed an interest in working in medicine again.


http://m.ctv.ca/topstories/20120605/panel-guy-turcotte-psychiatric-hospital-120605.html

The decision of Quebec's mental health review board (in French only)


TRIBUNAL ADMINISTRATIF DU QUÉBEC
Section des affaires sociales
Désignée comme étant une commission d'examen au sens des articles 672.38 et suivants
du Code criminel
Date : 4 juin 2012
Référence neutre : 2012 QCTAQ 066
Dossier : SAS-M-186278-1107
Devant les juges administratifs :
MÉDARD SAUCIER
JOSEPH ANGLADE
CHANTAL CARON
LUCIEN LEBLANC
GEORGES PAINCHAUD

G... T...
L'accusé

et
LE RESPONSABLE DE L’INSTITUT A
et
LE DIRECTEUR DES POURSUITES CRIMINELLES ET PÉNALES



Dossier : SAS-M-186278-1107 Page : 2

DÉCISION


[1] L’accusé1 fait l’objet de verdicts de non-responsabilité criminelle pour cause de
troubles mentaux rendus le 5 juillet 2011. Il était accusé de meurtres au premier degré,
ayant causé la mort de ses deux enfants âgés de cinq et quatre ans, gestes posés le 21
février 2009.

[2] L’accusé est demeuré détenu à la suite de ces verdicts. Il en est à sa première
comparution devant notre tribunal, la Commission d’examen des troubles mentaux (la
Commission) qui doit déterminer s’il représente un risque important pour la sécurité du
public.

[3] Le nombre et la longueur des témoignages entendus par la Commission et les
plaidoiries des avocats ont totalisé quatre jours et demi d’audience. Les contraintes liées à
la disponibilité des parties, de leurs avocats, des témoins et des juges de la Commission
ont fait en sorte que ces jours d’audience ont dû être échelonnés sur plusieurs mois. La
décision de la Commission n’a donc pas pu être rendue à l’intérieur du délai prévu au
Code criminel.

[4] L’accusé est âgé de quarante ans et divorcé depuis mars 2011. Il était père de
deux enfants (les victimes de ses délits), un fils né en 2003 et une fille née en 2005. Il était
cardiologue depuis 2002. Il a démissionné du Collège des médecins du Québec en 2009 à
la suite de ses délits.

[5] Il n’a pas d’antécédents psychiatriques connus avant les événements du 21 février
2009 (voir le paragraphe [1]). On a retenu qu’à cette époque, il souffrait d’un trouble
d'adaptation avec humeur anxiodépressive2 qu’on a qualifié de très sévère3. Un trouble


Dossier : SAS-M-186278-1107 Page : 3

d’adaptation se produit quand les événements stressants auxquels une personne a à faire
face dépassent ses capacités d’adaptation.

[6] Il ne présente actuellement aucune psychopathologie. Tous les spécialistes
s’entendent sur ce point. Il ne prend d’ailleurs plus de médication psychiatrique depuis la
mi-septembre 2011.

[7] Les opinions diffèrent toutefois quant à sa personnalité. Il n’y a pas de mésentente
marquée en ce qui concerne la présence chez lui d’une certaine immaturité, de traits
obsessionnels, dépendants et évitants (sic). L’histoire de sa vie confirme d’ailleurs une telle
analyse.

[8] L’équipe d’évaluateurs de l’Institut A constate aussi chez lui certains éléments
narcissiques. Elle dit soupçonner un trouble de la personnalité narcissique4 et noter des
traits narcissiques édulcorés5. Elle appuie ses conclusions sur ses propres constatations
ainsi que sur celles d’une intervenante (criminologue) du centre de détention et sur des
propos tenus par l’ex-conjointe de l’accusé et une soeur de ce dernier lors de rencontres
qu’elles ont eues avec l’équipe.

[9] Les experts dont les services ont été retenus par l’accusé ne partagent pas cette
opinion. Ils sont d’avis que celui-ci n’est pas plus narcissique qu'une personne ordinaire.

Read more.....

[56] En résumé, la Commission conclut que l’accusé demeure très fragile. La preuve
n’a pas démontré qu’il a acquis les habiletés nécessaires pour faire face aux très grandes
difficultés qu’il va rencontrer sur le chemin de sa réhabilitation. Cette grande fragilité et
l’insuffisance de moyens développés par l’accusé pour la contrer constitue un risque réel
de rechute. Ce risque n’est pas hypothétique mais plutôt bien étayé par la preuve.

. . . . .

Read all 17 pages of the decision here / Lire tous les 17 pages de la décision ici.

I know this is kind of old, but I wanted to comment anyway.

I found out my ex was cheating on me via texts and emails. I saw some of the nasty sexting that he did. It broke my heart. There were times I was scared that he would take my daughter and not bring her back. Ultimately he abandoned her. Hearing a 6 year old literally pray to God to see her daddy one more time is heartbreaking. There are times, even now, that I question what I could have done differently to save her that pain. Not once, ever, did I ever I think I could save her by killing her. I never considered suicide. This man killed his kids out of anger and to get revenge, plain and simple. He intentionally didn't kill himself. He surfed the web looking for painless suicide... why didn't he find ways to kill his kids humanely too? Why did they deserve pain and suffering but he didn't? It seems that Canada doesn't have the same Double Jeapardy law we do, so maybe the prosecution can get a new trial and he can finally be convicted of these crimes. In addition, what woman in her right mind would want to be with someone who admits that he lost it and killed his children when his wife left him. What happens when she decides she doesn't want to be with him anymore... Really, what is wrong with people?

Guy Turcotte appears before judge

 

Because this is the second trial on the same murder charges, a preliminary inquiry is not required
 
By Paul Cherry, GAZETTE crime reporter November 14, 2013 9:07 PM


 
Crown Prosecutor's office spokesperson Jean-Pascal Boucher addressing reporters after the Quebec Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for Guy Turcotte.

MONTREAL — If all goes according to the prosecution's plan, Guy Turcotte will not have to wait long for his second trial on charges of murdering his two young children.

The 41-year-old former cardiologist appeared before a judge Thursday at the St-Jérôme courthouse, one day after the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a jury's verdict of not criminally responsible on two counts of first-degree murder. The appellate court found that the presiding judge in the case, Superior Court Justice Marc David, made errors in his instructions to the jury as the trial was nearing its end in 2011.

Turcotte turned himself in to the Sûreté du Québec Wednesday night after being informed that a warrant for his arrest had been issued earlier in the day. He is charged, on the same indictment that was filed against him in 2009, with the first-degree murders of his son Olivier, 5, and his 3-year-old daughter Anne-Sophie. Both children were stabbed to death in their home in Piedmont on Feb. 21, 2009.

Dressed in a dark fleece pullover and faded blue jeans, Turcotte maintained a slight frown as he appeared Thursday afternoon before Quebec Court Judge Michel Caron. The lawyers who represented him during his first trial, brothers Guy and Pierre Poupart, were present for the brief hearing.

Also present was Isabelle Gaston, Turcotte's former wife and the mother of the victims. Turcotte kept his eyes toward the ground during the appearance and did not look toward Gaston at all.

Prosecutor René Verret asked that the case be carried over to the start of next year's court schedule, and Caron agreed to set Jan. 10 as the next date. Turcotte was not required to enter a plea at the hearing and the Poupart brothers made no comments as they exited the courtroom.

Verret, a prosecutor from Quebec City who was assigned to the case hours after the appeal decision was rendered Wednesday, said the Crown is ready to proceed in the new trial. The first trial took two years to be brought before a jury, but this time around most of the matters that normally cause delays are already dealt with. For example, a preliminary inquiry is not necessary.

Verret also said the directeur des poursuites criminelles et penales, the provincial prosecutors' bureau, has yet to receive notice of whether Turcotte will challenge the appeal court decision through the Supreme Court of Canada.

In the meantime, Turcotte can file a motion, before Quebec's Superior Court, to request a release hearing. Verret said he will not comment on whether the Crown would oppose Turcotte's release until he sees an actual motion.

"What I do know is that on Jan. 10 we should be able to set a trial date. And when that date is set, we are ready," Verret said.
Verret added that, as far as he knows, the trial will be held in St-Jérôme again even if finding jury members who haven't formed an opinion on the case might pose a challenge. Normally, a request for a change of venue is made by the defense.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Video+Turcotte+appears+before+judge/9166141/story.html

In the good old US of A only the defendant can appeal.  Too bad.  If  Casey had been ordered retried she would surely have been convicted.  No way they could have found another jury as dumb as the original nitwit 12. 

This guy just might end up getting his due.