Man accused of killing ailing wife wasn’t suffering from major depression: expert

Michel Cadotte, accused of murder in the 2017 death of his ailing wife in what has been described as a mercy killing, is seen at the courthouse in Montreal on Monday, January 7, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

MONTREAL — A Crown expert says a Montreal man on trial for second-degree murder showed no evidence of major depression at the time his severely ill wife was killed.

Dr. Gilles Chamberland is the final witness to take the stand at the trial of Michel Cadotte, accused of killing Joceylne Lizotte.

The Crown witness is countering defence experts who testified that Cadotte was suffering from depression on Feb. 20, 2017, the day Lizotte died.

Cadotte has described for the jury how he used a pillow to smother his wife, who had been living in a long-term care centre with advanced Alzheimer’s disease.

Chamberland, who met with Cadotte last month, pointed to another factor behind the killing: heavy alcohol consumption the weekend before the slaying, which contributed to a secondary mood disorder.

Cadotte himself told the psychiatrist the killing might have been avoided had he not been drinking in the days before.

The Canadian Press