By Canadian Press

Defence suggests manslaughter conviction in case of man who killed ailing wife

Feb 19, 2019 | 12:46 PM

MONTREAL — The defence is arguing that a Montreal man on trial for murder in the death of his ailing wife should be found guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter.

In final arguments before the jury today, a lawyer representing Michel Cadotte said the evidence does not demonstrate the intent required for a second-degree murder conviction in the death of Jocelyne Lizotte, his wife of 19 years.

Lizotte, 60, was suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease. Cadotte had been told about a year before the slaying that his wife did not qualify for a medically assisted death because she couldn’t consent and was not considered to be at the end of her life.

Elfriede Duclervil, one of Cadotte’s lawyers, told jurors that Lizotte’s suffocation with a pillow in a long-term care centre on Feb. 20, 2017 was the culmination of nine years of suffering and isolation as Cadotte watched the disease ravage his wife.

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Duclervil told jurors to pay particular attention to Cadotte’s state of mind as they deliberate on his fate.

The Crown will deliver its final arguments later today. The jury is expected to be sequestered after final instructions from Superior Court Justice Helene Di Salvo Wednesday.

The Canadian Press