Guy Turcotte to face second trial in stabbing death of children after Supreme Court rejects appeal

One of Canada's most controversial murder cases will have a second act after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Guy Turcotte should be retried for the stabbing deaths of his two children.

The country's top court declined to hear an appeal on Thursday, meaning Turcotte will be retried for the 2009 murder of his two young children after being previously found not criminally responsible for the act.

Turcotte has admitted to stabbing Anne-Sophie, 3, and Olivier, 5, as many as 46 times as they were asleep in their Montreal home five years ago, but told a court he didn't remember doing it.

A jury ruled that he was not criminally responsible for his actions because of a mental disorder. Last year, he was granted release from a psychiatric institute, prompting a public backlash.

"He still poses a risk but that risk can be controlled if he's supervised," said panel commissioner Danielle Allard said at the time Turcotte's release was announced.

The Turcotte case has been the focus of an ongoing legal battle since the jury found him not criminally responsible (NCR) in 2011. Last year, Crown lawyers launched an appeal, arguing an NCR ruling never should have been an option. In November, the Quebec Court of Appeal announced that Turcotte would indeed stand trial again, although Turcotte's lawyers vowed appealed that ruling.

According to the Canadian Press, the Surpreme Court rejected a request to hear that appeal on Thursday.

The death of Turcotte’s two children has been a point of contention in an ongoing debate over how the country handles those who are found not criminally responsible for their actions. In recent months, notorious figures Vincent Li and Richard Kachkar have been granted the right to leave psychiatric hospitals.

Li was found not criminally responsible for the murder and dismemberment of a bus passenger in Manitoba in 2009. Last month, doctors recommended that he be granted the right to leave a Manitoba hospital without an escort.

Kachkar was found not criminally responsible for killing a Toronto police office with a stolen snow plow in 2011. He was granted escorted leave from hospital in January.

During a debate on whether to make the Not Criminally Responsible Act stricter last year, Turcotte's ex-wife expressed concern about having figures such as her former husband return to the public.

"I find it unfortunate that a person suffering from a mental illness commits a crime, but I find it even more unfortunate that someone loses their life or well-being because of that crime," she told a federal committee. "For me, the death of Olivier and Anne-Sophie demands that I require that the system protect my life, my well-being and that of others, because it is when you lose those you love that you realize that being alive and healthy is a privilege."