SAINT-JEROME, Que. — The Crown began presenting photos at Guy Turcotte’s murder trial on Wednesday, including some of the two people he is charged with killing — his young children.
Some of the photos tabled by crime-scene specialist Daniel Fortin showed the bloodied bodies of Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, lying in their beds.
When the photos were shown on a screen, Turcotte stopped looking at it.
Turcotte, a former cardiologist, is charged with first-degree murder in their deaths north of Montreal in February 2009. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.
The 12 jurors also saw photos showing a knife in Olivier’s bed, another on the side of a bathtub and another in Turcotte’s bed, which was covered in vomit.
Earlier, Crown prosecutor Maria Albanese warned the 12 jurors they were in for some “tough” testimony.
“Some of the testimony will be emotional,” she said.
“The incidents occurred more than six years ago but they will never forget,” she added, referring to certain witnesses.
Turcotte, 43, appeared to cry when Albanese told the jury the children’s mother, Isabelle Gaston, will testify and have to relive what the Crown called “the worst thing in the world.”
“Imagine what we’re plunging this woman back into,” Albanese said. “This mother experienced the worst thing in the world. The horror. And that word is weak.”
Quebec Superior Court Justice Andre Vincent, who is overseeing the three-month trial, told the seven men and five women they must concentrate only on the evidence given at the trial.
“What you hear outside the courtroom is not part of the evidence,” he told them.
The judge also ordered that witnesses not be allowed in the courtroom before they testify. They will after they have taken the stand.
The Crown is expected to call about 30 witnesses.
The Canadian Press
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