OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it won't hear an appeal by a former Quebec cardiologist who is facing a new double-murder trial in the slayings of his young children.
Guy Turcotte was originally found not criminally responsible in the 2009 stabbing deaths, a decision that enraged many Quebecers.
Turcotte was briefly confined to a mental health facility following the verdict, but convinced an independent board that he should be freed.
All told, he was confined for about 46 months.
Last November, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned the 2011 jury verdict and ordered a second trial on two counts of first-degree murder.
The province's top court said certain legal errors made by the trial judge opened the door to a new trial.
The Supreme Court announced it won't hear Turcotte's appeal of that decision, paving the way for a new trial.
As is standard practice in the case of applications for leave to appeal, the Supreme Court did not give reasons for its decision.
Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, were stabbed a combined 46 times before Turcotte tried to take his own life by ingesting windshield washer fluid. His highly publicized trial heard that Turcotte was distraught over the abrupt end of his marriage and only remembered the night in flashes.
His criminal case returns before a judge in early April.
He is currently detained.
The judge hearing the case put off setting a new trial date until the Supreme Court made its decision. He also said the earliest a new trial could take place is sometime in 2015.
