The trial of the man accused of killing his two boys in Wendake in 2020 has been postponed to January 2023 because an expert debate between the same two psychiatrists as in the Old Quebec saber killer case could not be held criminally responsible .
The trial of Michaël Chicoine, originally scheduled for September for allegedly murdering his sons Alex (2) and Olivier (5), has been postponed. The accused’s first lawyer, Me Pierre Gagnon, withdrew a few weeks ago citing disagreements with his client.
A lawyer from Montreal, Me Alexandra Longueville, has therefore announced that she will take over in this murder case. However, she stated that she could not hold the trial for five weeks from September 19 as planned, as another trial was already on her agenda.
Not criminally responsible
The Crown did not agree with this delay, relying instead on Judge François Huot’s decision. The latter eventually agreed to postpone the trial to January 16, 2023, stating that no further postponement would be granted.
As in the case of the Halloween Killer, Michaël Chicoine will not plead guilty to a mental illness charge to defend himself against the two second-degree murder charges of his children. The defendant’s first counsel, Me Gagnon, had announced an opinion from psychiatrist Gilles Chamberland.
The crown, for its part, commissioned the experienced psychiatrist Sylvain Faucher in anticipation of corresponding counter-evidence. This means that the debate about the mental state of the 32-year-old accused at the time the murders were committed in October 2020 could be opposed by the same experts as in the Carl Girouard trial, which ended a few weeks ago.
However, Chicoine’s new attorney, Me Longueville, who has just joined the case, could present a different defense by the time the trial begins.