The man accused of killing his two young boys in Wendake in 2020 saw his trial pushed back to January 2023 as an expert debate between the same two psychiatrists as in the case of the Old Quebec saber killer could be made on not criminally responsible.
First scheduled for September, the trial of Michaël Chicoine who murdered his sons Alex, 2, and Olivier, 5, has been postponed. The first lawyer for the accused, Me Pierre Gagnon, withdrew a few weeks ago citing differences of opinion with his client.
A Montreal lawyer, Ms.e Alexandra Longueville, has therefore announced to take over in this case of murders. However, she indicated that she was unable to hold the trial as planned from September 19, for five weeks, because of another trial already scheduled on her agenda.
The Crown did not consent to this delay, but relied on the decision of Judge François Huot. The latter finally agreed to postpone the trial to January 16, 2023, indicating that there would be no further postponement granted.
Not criminally responsible
As in the case of the Halloween killer, Michaël Chicoine will plead not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder to defend himself from the two murder charges on the 2e degree of his children. The defendant’s first lawyer, Mr.e Gagnon, had announced an expertise of the psychiatrist Gilles Chamberland.
For its part, the Crown mandated expert psychiatrist Sylvain Faucher in anticipation of counter-evidence to this effect. This means that the debate on the mental state of the 32-year-old accused at the time of committing his murders in October 2020 could oppose the same experts as in the trial of Carl Girouard which ended a few years ago. weeks.
In defense, D.r Gilles Chamberland had estimated that Girouard was in full psychotic delirium on October 31, 2020, conversely, the Dr Sylvain Faucher had established that the murders resulted from a narcissistic quest. Chicoine’s new lawyer, Ms.e Longueville, which has just entered the case, could however present another defense by the start of the trial.