A psychiatrist who examined a former doctor who confessed to killing his two children has advised that the man be detained for at least another year.
Dr. Pierre Rochette delivered his assessment of Guy Turcotte to members of a mental-health review board in Montreal on Friday morning.
Rochette told the panel that Turcotte is still struggling with the emotions that led him to fatally stab five-year-old Olivier and three-year old Anne-Sophie two years ago.
The board is tasked with deciding whether Turcotte should be freed, released with conditions or remain at a psychiatric facility with an annual review of his case.
While Rochette told the panel that Turcotte has made progress and is off medication, he recommended that the former doctor remain in custody for further treatment.
Turcotte has admitted to causing the deaths of his two children but denies intending to hurt them.
He has said that he was distraught over the breakup of his marriage and could only remember flashbacks from the evening he stabbed his children a total of 46 times.
There was widespread outrage last July when jurors found Turcotte not criminally responsible in the deaths, a verdict the Crown intends to appeal.
The review board heard Friday that the former cardiologist hopes to one day resume his medical practice, meet another woman and perhaps have more children.
But those formerly close to Turcotte have said that they don't want the man to go free.
Turcotte's ex-wife Isabelle Gaston has said she would fear for her life if her former husband was released, the board heard.
Gaston's appearance before the board on Friday was cut short as she tearfully described the impact of the murders. "I am a mother who doesn't have children. I spend the better part of my time crying," she said. "To know that they are dead is terrible, to know that they suffered is hell."
The board did not let her finish, noting that the purpose of the hearing was not to put Turcotte back on trial.
Outside, her brother Patrick Gaston echoed complaints that Turcotte has said little about the murders and his state of mind.
"He said nothing. He said only what his lawyers told him to say," Gaston told reporters. "Maybe that's a winning combination for him and them, but for me, and the rest of the people I know, it's questionable."
The long-awaited hearing resumed Friday after being abruptly cancelled last August when a letter written by Turcotte's sister prompted a delay in the case.
With a report from CTV Montreal's Paul Karwatsky
