MONTREAL - A mental-health hearing for Guy Turcotte, the cardiologist who stabbed his two children to death and was found not criminally responsible, has been postponed until November 4.
A mental health commission was supposed to start a review Friday to decide between one of three fates for Turcotte: unconditional liberty, conditional liberty or detention in a psychiatric institution.
Jean-Claude Hebert, a lawyer who represents the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec, told a media scrum Friday that a woman close to the case provided written information Thursday that they deemed serious enough to delay the process.
The panel will now meet the woman to evaluate the information.
The information came from a source close to the case, according to Hebert.
Turcotte denied intent but admitted to causing the deaths of his two children in their beds in 2009.
He stabbed his son, Olivier, and daughter, Anne-Sophie, a total of 46 times.
The Crown had charged him with two counts of first-degree murder, but a jury found him not criminally responsible for the deaths on July 5.
Hebert says the commission does not have the authority to change the verdict.
The independent commission, made of five, rather than the customary three individuals, will likely hear witnesses, such as the psychiatrist who treated Turcotte at the Pinel Institute
The mother of the young victims could make a victim impact statement if she so chooses, according to Hebert.
It is unknown how long the process will take.
With a file from The Canadian Press
