Guy Turcotte's murder trial hears about stabbing deaths of children

Guy Turcotte leaves the Saint Jerome courthouse on Sept. 14, 2015. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

SAINT-JEROME, Que. -- The trial of a former Quebec doctor charged with killing his two young children heard on Wednesday from an expert who described how they were stabbed to death.

Guy Turcotte, 43, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of first-degree murder but has admitted through his lawyers to causing the children's deaths in 2009.

Biologist Francois Julien, an expert in blood spatter, testified that both Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, were first attacked while lying on their backs and then when they were on their sides.

They were eventually found on their backs, he said.

As Julien testified, photographs of the two bloodied bodies were shown, with some jurors appeared troubled by the graphic images. All the while, Turcotte, his face red, kept his head down, occasionally wiping his eyes with a tissue.

The Crown has said it intends to demonstrate the children were stabbed a total of 46 times -- Olivier 27 times and Anne-Sophie another 19.

Julien told the jury that Olivier was the first to be attacked and that his blood was found on the doorknob of Anne-Sophie's room, leading him to conclude Turcotte moved from his son's room to his daughter's.

The blood of both children were found on a knife found near the bathtub. A longer knife found underneath the young boy wasn't used to stab him.

The case resumed Wednesday after losing a juror.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Andre Vincent said he exercised his powers under the Criminal Code to free the juror. The reason for the dismissal cannot be made public.

That means 11 people will now continue to hear the case against Turcotte.

A trial needs a minimum of 10 jurors to proceed.

The case will not sit Thursday and Friday as another juror requires an operation for an injury sustained last weekend and because a trial cannot proceed with an absent juror.