Quebec doctor in court on murder charges

A Quebec cardiologist charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his two children was in court on Monday for his preliminary hearing.

Guy Turcotte, 37, appeared at the St-Jrme courthouse north of Montreal for the first of four hearing days to determine whether he should stand trial.

The cardiologist has been in police custody for the past year, since his two children Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, were found stabbed to death in their parents' rented home in the Laurentians town of Piedmont on Feb. 21, 2009.

Turcotte was found lying on the floor after attempting suicide.He had to betransferred to a Montreal hospital for treatment because his colleaguesat the Htel-Dieu Regional Hospital in nearbySaint-Jrme couldn't treat him.

The mother of the children, Isabelle Gaston, was skiing in Charlevoix the weekend they died. Gaston, an emergency-room physician, was separated from Turcotte at the time.

Crown prosecutor Claudia Carbonneau has four days to present evidence supportingthe province'srequest for Turcotte to stand trial.

His preliminary hearing is subject to a publication ban on any evidence presented in court.

Turcotte's mother, Marguerite Fournier, took the stand on Monday with tearful testimony delivered to a packed courtroom. Turcotte cried repeatedly while his mother testified, and appeared ashen, said CBC Newsreporter Amanda Pfeffer.

Gaston is expected to take the stand as early as Tuesday.