The saber killer Carl Girouard was not dangerous enough to have forced treatment imposed on him, even though he spoke openly to professionals about his idea of killing people with a saber.
This is in a way the “problem”, argues Dr. Gilles Chamberland, a psychiatrist who evaluated Girouard after the attacks in Old Quebec and who testified Monday at his trial on behalf of the defense.
“The laws are quite rigid. For a peace officer to pick him up, there must be a serious and immediate danger. We don’t have that. […] The danger is hazy.
“They told him: ‘You have your appointment’, and he never followed up, so he fell between two chairs and there the disease continued to progress,” said Dr Chamberland.
The psychiatrist — who is of the opinion that Carl Girouard suffered from schizophrenia, among other things — added that, in his opinion, nothing other than mental illness could explain the murders in Old Quebec on Halloween 2020.
The evidence that the accused was ill is that he responded well to medication while imprisoned. “When you respond to medication, chances are it’s medical,” said Dr. Chamberland.
Carl Girouard admitted to killing two people and injuring five others, but he maintains that he was not criminally responsible because he suffered from a mental disorder.
The Crown, for its part, argues that Girouard was able to distinguish right from wrong. Prosecutor François Godin has just started the cross-examination of Dr. Chamberland.
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