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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:45 am
Child-killing Quebec doctor says he wants to find love again, have more kids
MONTREAL - A notorious Quebec child-killer has some big plans.
Former cardiologist Guy Turcotte, who stabbed his young children 46 times but was found not criminally responsible for his act, wants to pick up his medical career where it left off.
Turcotte has also told psychiatrists treating him in a Montreal institution that he'd like to move to another part of Canada where he's less notorious.
He apparently hopes to find love again. He's already been getting letters from admirers at his psychiatric institution.
And he wants more kids.
Thirty-three months ago, Turcotte stabbed his only two children to death in their beds. He said he was distraught over the breakup of his marriage and could not recall details of the incident.
He was found not criminally responsible in a jury decision that triggered outrage in Quebec this past July. Turcotte has been in a psychiatric institution since then and is now arguing for his release.
A psychiatrist and a psychologist both testified before a tribunal Friday that Turcotte should be detained for at least another year. Doctors said it remains unknown just what triggered the rage that led to the brutal events of February 2009 and why Turcotte killed five-year-old Olivier and three-year-old Anne-Sophie.
"It could happen again," psychologist Guy Desjardins told the mental-health tribunal.
"Because we're talking about the same vulnerabilities as before... (Turcotte's) fragility not only hasn't been treated, it hasn't even been identified."
Later in the day, the mother of the two dead children said she knows why Turcotte snapped: he wanted to hurt her, because she had left him for another man. She said she still lives in fear that he'll harm her.
"The bomb is still there, it hasn't been disarmed," Isabelle Gaston warned the mental-health board.
While she tried to have her voice heard Friday by the tribunal, she was stymied at every turn. The five-member tribunal interrupted as she sobbed while reading a letter recounting her life with Turcotte and the impact of her children's death. The board refused to see a video that included pictures of the children.
Gaston tearfully said she would never see Olivier read a book or Anne-Sophie attend her first day of school.
But Gaston was interrupted when she described her ex-husband as a dangerous manipulator. Board members also cut off Gaston's mother and brother during their testimony.
They were reminded that the purpose of Friday's hearing was not to put Turcotte back on trial. That's when Gaston reminded board members of their role.
"Commissioners, you have a duty to ensure that this man no longer presents a threat to society," Gaston pleaded.
"I am a member of society. And I believe he represents a threat to my safety."
Gaston called her ex-husband's actions unforgivable, adding that, as an emergency-room doctor, she often dealt with depressed patients.
She said her own knowledge of medicine allowed her to imagine the agony of what 46 stab wounds might feel like.
She said she felt abandoned by the justice system. Meanwhile, in the public gallery, spectators grumbled repeatedly at the tribunal's moves to interrupt her.
Earlier Friday, psychiatrist Pierre Rochette said Turcotte hasn't taken part in any psychotherapy since arriving at the institution after his verdict.
The decision is based on the advice of Turcotte's lawyers. The Crown has appealed the verdict and he might have to testify again if there's a re-trial.
Turcotte told his earlier trial that he could only remember flashes of the night his children died.
But until he opens up further and doctors understand his case better, Rochette said, Turcotte should remain institutionalized.
"All that psychotherapy work still needs to be done,'' the psychiatrist testified Friday. "I'm not sure he'll be able to find help outside (the hospital)."
Rochette testified that Turcotte wants to leave Quebec — where he is an infamous household name — and start practising cardiology again. He also hopes to find love and perhaps have more kids.
He said Turcotte had received fan mail.
The psychiatrist testified that he met with Turcotte's ex-wife, the mother of the slain children. Gaston expressed concern for her own safety, for her current partner's and for that of any children she might eventually have.
Turcotte's previously scheduled hearing was abruptly cancelled last August after a mysterious, unflattering letter written by his own sister came to light.
She eventually claimed in media interviews that Turcotte had previously made threats against his family.
The five-member panel will eventually decide whether Turcotte should be freed, released with conditions, or remain detained in a psychiatric institution with a yearly review of his file.
The panel will reconvene to continue Turcotte's hearing. Once the hearing is finished, a written ruling is expected at a later date.
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