The defence at the Guy Turcotte trial has called a second psychiatrist to the stand to convince the jury that the cardiologist was not mentally competent when he killed his two young children in 2009.
Dr. Dominique Bourget of the University of Ottawa Psychiatric Department specializes in legal psychiatry, meaning she's called to analyze cases for the courts.
Her specialty is homicide cases involving family members, and she's testified for the courts hundreds of times.
On Wednesday morning she explained her résumé, and how she went about analyzing Turcotte's claim of being mentally ill when he killed his children Olivier and Anne-Sophie.
Bourget met Turcotte on two occasions in 2010, while he was detained under psychiatric observation.
Bourget concluded the former cardiologist suffered from a mental illness called adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood. It is a relatively common condition triggered, as the name implies, by anxiety and depression.
The illness usually lasts six months on average and disappears once sources of stress are no longer present. The disorder is considered an abnormal reaction to stress. Many of the people with this illness will try to commit suicide.
Bourget's testimony will last all week, and she is expected to explain how the illness can trigger a murderous rage.
The psychiatrist added that Turcotte did not suffer from a personality disorder in his youth, although he does display obsessive-compulsive behaviour.
Dr Bourget's diagnosis will be challenged by the prosecution, whose own psychiatrist is listening to the proceedings.
Earlier this week Dr. Jacques Talbot, the psychiatrist who first examined after the killings and during a half-year stay at the Pinel Psychiatric Institute, testified that Turcotte was suffering from a short-term disorder caused by stress.
Bourget explained this in more detail to the jury.
Meanwhile, after six weeks of testimony, the jury is growing restless.
On Wednesday morning the jury sent a note to the judge asking how much longer the trial would continue.
Justice André Vincent replied that the defence has between five and eight witnesses left to call, while the prosecution is expecting to call two rebuttal witnesses -- including a psychiatrist.
Vincent explained it could take approximately three weeks before the jury would be able to start their deliberations -- which is exactly what the jurors were told about the length of the trial before it began.
The jury also asked the judge if Turcotte was medicated when he testified in his own defence last week, and if any such medication could have affected his testimony.
Vincent said he could not answer that question, and would only be allowed to answer it if a lawyer had asked Turcotte that question while he was testifying.
