Guy Turcotte murder trial: accused admits causing children's deaths

Guy Turcotte's second murder trial continued on Thursday at the courtroom in St-Jérôme, Que., with a written admission from the accused that he caused the deaths of his children Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, in 2009.

Among the documents submitted to the court on the second day of the trial was an 11-page admission of the parties, listing facts and evidence that both the accused and the Crown agreed to accept.  

"Guy Turcotte recognizes that he caused the deaths of Anne-Sophie Turcotte and of Olivier Turcotte," the second point read.

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The day's testimony began with Quebec provincial police investigator Sylvain Harvey on the witness stand.

Harvey, a Crown witness, presented the jury with bloodied items taken from Turcotte's Piedmont, Que. home the day the bodies of the children were discovered there.

Guy Turcotte recognizes that he caused the deaths of Anne-Sophie Turcotte and of Olivier Turcotte,- extract from a document submitted to the court

Turcotte is accused of killing his five-year-old son Olivier and three-year-old daughter Anne-Sophie in 2009.

Harvey testified he found two knives, two knife sheaths, a container of windshield-wiper fluid and a drinking glass at the scene of the crime.

He showed the jury two knives admitted as evidence. One had a blade measuring 13 centimetres with an 11-centimetre handle; the other had a 20-centimetre blade with a 22-centimetre handle.

The first knife was found in the bathroom, and the second was found in Olivier's room.

The witness was then cross-examined by the defence.

Police who responded to 911 call testifies

Patrick Gingras, a provincial police officer also called to the stand on Thursday, said police were alerted to the events at Turcotte's house after receiving a call from a woman saying she was worried her son had tried to kill himself.

Gingras said Turcotte's car was parked in the driveway when police arrived, and all the doors to the home were locked.

He said he broke in to the house through a window and identified himself as a police officer.

He then testified to hearing a noise he described as "bing-bang" coming from the second floor. He opened the front door for his fellow officer who had just arrived, and the two of them both drew their guns before walking up the stairs calling out, "Police, police, here to help."

Gingras said on the second floor he found the bodies of the two children in separate rooms.

Jury shown photos of dead children

Harvey and Gingras took the stand after a gruelling first day of testimony in which the jury was shown photographs of the bloodied bodies of his two children in their beds.

On Wednesday the former Quebec cardiologist turned away as photos of his children's bloodied bodies were shown in the courtroom.

Sûreté du Québec crime-scene technician Daniel Fortin showed the jury dozens of photographs he took at Turcotte's home on Feb. 21, 2009, the day after Turcotte's two young children were killed.

Prosecutor Maria Albanese said the children were stabbed 46 times. 

The jury has been warned to expect some gruelling emotional testimony throughout the trial, which is expected to take about three months.

The judge, Justice André Vincent, ordered the jurors to ignore anything they heard about the case outside of the courtroom, saying they must concentrate only on the evidence given at the trial.

The Crown is expected to call about 30 witnesses, including the children's mother, Isabelle Gaston.

Background on legal battle

On Wednesday morning, Vincent began proceedings by reading the charges to the 12 jurors — two counts of first-degree murder.

In 2011, Turcotte was found not criminally responsible for the deaths and was remanded to the Pinel Institute, a Montreal psychiatric facility. He was released in December 2012.

The verdict in Turcotte's first trial was thrown out after the courts found the initial judge had made a mistake in communicating with the jury.

An appeals process that went all the way to the Supreme Court resulted in Turcotte's re-arrest last year.