Isabelle Gaston was stunned when her husband, Guy Turcotte, was found not criminally responsible for the death of their two children. What made the ruling hard to believe was the fact that Turcotte, 39, had already confessed to stabbing their two children—Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3—in February 2009. According to Ctv news, Turcotte said that he had not intended to commit murder, a fact that many people found difficult to comprehend, considering the allegations that he had previously sent a threatening email to his wife, promising her ‘war’.
It was reported that people testifying in his defense for the three months of the trial seemed to agree that Turcotte was suffering from a psychotic breakdown as a result of his wife having an affair with his best friend, who is a personal trainer. Turcotte did confess to having killed his two children, and so the jury was left with the option of choosing from first-degree murder, manslaughter, second-degree murder, or not criminally responsible due to mental illness.
On that Tuesday morning of July 5, 2011, according to reports, the judge in the Guy Turcotte trial allowed those who could not control themselves after the verdict to leave the courtroom. Some of the jury, and also Turcotte, were seen crying while the verdict was being read. His wife, Isabelle Gaston, was seen looking perplexed and fighting tears back. Isabella has stated that she is shocked by the ruling; however, she has no intention to appeal.
It has been stated that just before the killings, Turcotte read some love emails between his wife and his best friend, who is a personal trainer. He was so distraught that he drank five liters of windshield-washer liquid. As Turcotte began to lose consciousness, he thought that he couldn’t survive, and so decided not to leave his two children behind.
Now Turcotte will have to stay in a mental institution until an administrative tribunal decides whether he is a threat to himself and society, after which he will be freed with or without conditions. The general public thought that the ruling was not fair, but legal experts backed the jurors, saying that the jury put their prejudices aside and took their work seriously for the six days they were deliberating
Related Links:
1. Ctv News Montreal
2. National Post. com