The Montreal man accused of killing his wife in a suspected mercy killing has been granted bail.

Michel Cadotte, 55, was charged in February with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Jocelyne Lizette, a 60-year-old woman who had Alzheimer’s disease.

The judge said in his decision that he saw in Cadette a man who supported his wife through a decade-long illness and was pushed to a breaking point.

He ordered Cadotte to follow several conditions including living with his sister, taking prescription medication, seeing a psychologist and paying a $10,000 bail bond and also suggested he could present a defence of mental distress.

"His situation is personal,” said defence attorney Elfriede Duclervil on Friday after bail was granted. “He was someone who was physically and emotionally at the breaking point. No one condones what happened to Mrs. Lizotte. Unfortunately, Michel Cadotte was almost the only one there for her day in and day out… At one point, as he said in his testimony, he cracked."

The judge referred to the case of Robert Latimer in his ruling, saying that though the evidence against him is overwhelming, he looked to the decisions made in the Latimer case, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his daughter Tracy.

During his bail hearing last month, Cadotte told the court how he became extremely depressed after caring for Lizotte as she grew increasingly incapable over a nine-year-span, adding that he had grown frustrated by nursing staff at the long-term care facility where had lived since 2014

Cadotte also said he was angry that Lizotte was denied the right to medically assisted death despite her condition.

After Lizotte's death, Cadotte informed her family, then posted messages on Facebook about the incident.

"I feel better since her passing. I no longer have to worry about the abuse she suffered. But I felt guilty, even if she's better off where she is now (...) she had a dignified death," he said.

Duclervil, said the public would understand that this was no ordinary murder. During the bail hearing, Lizotte’s family also clearly showed its support for the accused.

The Crown said that regardless of motive, Cadotte's alleged actions were against the law and he should be denied bail.

Cadotte will still face a jury trial for his wife's murder.

The controversial case sparked renewed debate at the National Assembly around medical aid in dying.