A few weeks before his murder trial, Michaël Chicoine finally pleaded guilty on Wednesday at the Quebec City courthouse. The 32-year-old man is accused of the second degree murder – because it was not premeditated – of his two sons committed in 2020, in Wendake.
“I plead guilty, Mr. Justice,” Mr. Chicoine said twice from the defendants’ box during a hearing on Wednesday before Judge François Huot.
Before entering the guilty plea, the judge asked an independent psychiatrist to assess the accused’s mental state to ensure that he was in “full possession of his abilities”.
Chicoine’s mental state at the time of the facts was to be at the heart of the trial, which was scheduled to be held at least in January. However, because of the guilty plea, the proceedings will go directly to the sentencing submissions stage. Michaël Chicoine faces 10 to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
The murder of his two sons, Olivier and Alex, aged five and two respectively during the tragedy, sparked a lively debate on the work of the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ). At the time, the two parents were separated and in open conflict over custody. The children’s mother criticized the DPJ for having failed in its duty to protect the children.
“I’m sorry, mom”
On the court side, this file has undergone a series of changes along the way, Mr. Chicoine having notably changed lawyers several times. The lawyer Pierre Gagnon, who represented him at the start, had given up his place to Me Alexandra Longueville, to take it back last fall.
At the time of the events, the parents had been separated for two years. ” Their relationship [était] conflict since then. Since then there [avait] a dispute concerning the custody of the victims, ”explained the prosecutor Simon Larouche in a statement summarizing the facts.
On the night of October 11, 2020, Michael Chicoine sent his mother and his ex-spouse a photo showing the two victims “lifeless, lying in a bed”.
In the message to his mother, the accused wrote: “I’m sorry, mom, I suffered too much” adding that his ex-spouse had done him “so much harm”. To the latter, he simply wrote “farewell”.
The accused then took “suicide medication” and headed to the police station where he said he killed his children.
Further details will follow.
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