Expert: Turcotte could not judge actions when he killed his kids

Cardiologist Guy Turcotte was so depressed the night he stabbed his children to death he was unable to judge the nature of his actions, a psychiatrist testified Wednesday at the father’s first-degree murder trial.

Roch-Hugo Bouchard is the second psychiatrist called by the defence to say Turcotte, 39, couldn’t cope with the sudden changes in his life, such as the discovery of his wife having an affair with the couple’s personal trainer, Martin Huot.

The night of Feb. 20, 2009, less than a month after moving out of the family’s Prévost home, Turcotte stabbed Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, numerous times.

Turcotte had the classic symptoms of depression: trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, loss of energy, Bouchard said on the 30th day of the trial.

"It’s a bit like being in sinking sand."

Bouchard said Turcotte’s sadness throughout the six-year marriage to Isabelle Gaston began to deepen into a depression in December, 2008, when Gaston had cosmetic surgery despite Turcotte’s protests.

Then Gaston took the children to Cuba over Christmas, when Turcotte was on call at St. Jérôme’s Hotel Dieu Hospital. Christmas was an important holiday for Turcotte and he felt it should be celebrated together as a family, testified Bouchard, who met with Turcotte at the Rivière des Prairies Detention Centre March 4, 2011.

Finally, when they rang in 2009 in Montreal with Huot and his wife, Patricia Giroux, Turcotte felt his wife was having fun with everyone but him.

"After 2008, something broke and things got much more difficult," said Bouchard, who was been hired by Turcotte’s defence team.

A key date in Turcotte’s downward spiral was Jan. 14, 2009, when Giroux informed Turcotte she’d discovered a string of romantic emails between their spouses.

"He was very angry and devastated," Bouchard said. "The day before, he didn’t think it was possible (that his wife was having an affair) and now the proof was before him."

The trial continues Wednesday.