SAINT-JEROME, Quebec, April 18 (UPI) -- A lawyer for a Canadian doctor admitted Monday his client killed his two children and it will now be up to a jury to determine his mental state when he did it.
Defense attorney Pierre Poupart made the admission on behalf of his client, Dr. Guy Turcotte, on the opening day of the Quebec cardiologist's trial in Saint-Jerome on two counts of first-degree murder, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The seven-woman, five-man jury will determine Turcotte's state of mind at the time he fatally stabbed his son Oliver, 5, and daughter Anne-Sophie, 3, in their rented Piedmont home in February 2009, and whether he knew what he was doing, Poupart said in his opening statement.
Turcotte, 38, has pleaded not guilty and was determined fit to stand trial at a preliminary hearing last year.
About 30 witnesses are expected to be called during the trial, which is expected to last six to eight weeks.