NOT CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE-TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE

In February, 2009, Guy Turcotte a cardiologist stabbed his two young children, Anne-Sophie, 3, and Olivier, 5, 46 times while they were lying in their beds. Turcotte admitted to the killings, but in the subsequent murder trial he claimed he could not recall carrying them out.

The Guy Turcotte murder trial was one of the most closely followed in recent history in Canada — both horrifying and captivating the public.

The jury deliberated for 5 days, deciding on the fate of the cardiologist charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his children Olivier and Anne-Sophie.

The trial hinged on Turcotte’s state of mind at the time of the February 2009 slayings. Was he trying to get revenge on his estranged wife, a fellow doctor, for cheating on him with a mutual friend? Or was he a sick man who had lost all reason?

Turcotte’s lawyers argued he had been rendered temporarily insane over the recent breakup of his marriage with Ms. Gaston. In the July verdict, a jury found he was “not criminally responsible” for his actions.

In September, Turcotte faced a five-person mental health tribunal to determine whether he should be released, or whether he should be detained for another year.

As the mental health tribunal decided whether to set Guy Turcotte free, hundreds of protesters gathered in 14 Quebec cities calling for an overhaul of the justice system.

Crown prosecutors are seeking a retrial for Turcotte, arguing that the judge erred in law in his instructions to the jury. NOT CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE-TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE-Dan Zupansky