Guy Turcotte searched for info on suicide, methanol
Trial resumes after 6-day break
Guy Turcotte searched the internet for information on such topics as suicide and methanol in the days before killing his two young children, a Sûreté du Québec investigator told a courtroom in St-Jérôme on Tuesday.
Turcotte also participated in online suicide support forums around the same time, Michel Dufour said.
The murder trial resumed on Tuesday following a six-day delay.
In his testimony, Dufour noted that Turcotte started searching for information on suicide for the first time on Feb. 15, 2009 — less than a week before the death of his children.
Turcotte is being tried for a second time for murder in the death of his children Olivier, five, and Anne-Sophie, three, on Feb. 20, 2009.
Turcotte was transported to hospital with toxic liquid in his bloodstream the day after killing his two children. A bottle containing methanol was discovered in the bathroom of the house where the two killings took place.
In his cross-examination, Turcotte's lawyer Pierre Poupart dismissed the evidence concerning Turcotte's internet searches as "pages and pages of scribbling."
Johanne Leclair, a neighbour who frequently babysat for Turcotte and his then-wife Isabelle Gaston, took the stand later Tuesday and described an unsettling encounter with Turcotte that took place about 10 days before the two children died.
Leclair said that Turcotte came to ask her to babysit his children on Feb. 21 but then became infuriated after claiming that his then-wife had become unfaithful, a situation led him to punch a man named Martin Huot in the face.
"Being a cuckold is the hardest thing," Turcotte allegedly told Leclair.
She then urged Turcotte to keep his cool. Leclair said that Turcotte responded with rage, raising his voice while pointing his finger at her.
"I was scared and stepped back," she said.
Proceedings were suspended last Wednesday at noon after a juror was given time off for a death in the family, while another juror was transported to hospital for medical treatment.
with files from La Presse Canadienne