He was described as a well respected cardiologist - a loving dad and husband.

But Guy Turcotte, a man who once saved lives, found it in him to take the lives of his own two children.

Tuesday's verdict in his double murder trial that found Turcotte was not criminally responsible for the stabbing deaths of his two children by reason of mental defect was not a popular one on the streets of Montreal.

"Well he killed his two children, he knew better," one person told CTV Montreal's Camille Ross on Tuesday.

"I feel bad about it because anybody can kill his kids and say, I'm not responsible," was another response.

By 11 p.m. Tuesday night, there were 1,454 online responses to CTV Montreal's Talkback question: Do you agree with the jury's decision in the murder trial of Guy Turcotte?

Of those, 1,298 – or 89.3 per cent – said they did not agree with the verdict.

However, clinical psychologist Dr. Pierre Faubert says he can understand the jury's decision.

Faubert, who has a clinic at the Queen Elizabeth Health Complex, says Turcotte was reeling after his marriage to Isabelle Gaston fell apart.

His pride was shattered, Faubert says, and he may have been nursing narcissistic wounds.

Then he snapped.

"He loses what makes him, to his own eyes, important – the children, his wife, eventually how people will see him in his profession," Faubert explained.

An organization that works with the mentally ill agrees.

Ami Quebec's Martina Herrmann says perception can become reality very quickly for someone with mental problems.

"You're acting on what you believe, what is your reality, your perceived reality, and that reality can be distorted if you brain is not functioning well," she said.

But a group representing families who have suffered similar losses says there's no excuse – the Association des Familles de Personnes Assassinées ou Disparues du Québec (AFPAD) was hoping for a murder conviction.

"It's wrong," said AFPAD president Elizabeth Pousoulidis. "We live in a society where it's wrong or right, you know? What message are we passing? Should women be afraid to separate now? Should women be afraid to get divorces?"

Turcotte will be in psychiatric care for an undetermined period of time where the goal won't necessarily be rehabilitation.

Instead doctors will try to find the factors that brought him to this point.

Dr. Faubert says part of the treatment will include 45 days of testing.

"They have the personality tests, there will be so many interviews, there will be simulations, they'll observe him with other people," he said.

If the tests reveal a man of sound mind, Turcotte could once again be a free man.