Juror dismissed in Que. doctor's murder trial
A judge has dismissed a juror in the trial of a Quebec cardiologist charged with killing his two young children.
The trial of Guy Turcotte will continue with 11 jurors instead of 12, Quebec Superior Court Judge Marc David told those in the courtroom in St-Jérôme on Thursday.
The juror was released after the other jurors sent the judge a note, saying they suspected that person was partial. A publication ban covers the exact contents of the note, as well as the questions David asked the juror who was dismissed.
Under Canadian law, trials can be held with as few as 10 jurors.
Turcotte is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3.
He has admitted to causing the deaths of the children, but has denied intent or premeditation. The defence says the case revolves around Turcotte's state of mind at the time of the killings, not whether he performed the act.
In emotionally charged testimony Thursday morning, Turcotte said he was focused on committing suicide the night he killed his children, and he said he killed them to spare them the trauma of finding him dead.
Turcotte said he only remembers flashes of what happened that night in February 2009. Those memories include consuming windshield washer fluid and stabbing Anne-Sophie and Olivier, in their beds. He told the court he remembers their blood on his hands, and desperately searching for a knife to kill himself.
In his fourth day of testimony at his murder trial, Turcotte said he had read emails between his wife and her new lover the night of the killings. He said those emails made it clear his wife was in love in a way she had never been with him.
He then researched suicide techniques after the children had gone to bed.
Turcotte later described how his children had told him they loved him and tried to console him before bed.
What came after, he said, he can only recall in flashes.
The mother of the children, Isabelle Gaston, left the courtroom in tears and her cries were heard down the hall during a break in her ex-husband's testimony.
The trial was adjourned after the juror was dismissed and will resume Friday morning at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
