Quebec woman charged in the death of her three kids fit to stand trial

The Canadian Press / Times Colonist
January 4, 2013

Sonia Blanchette, charged with killing her three young children, is is due in court later today. Blanchette is shown arriving at the courthouse in Drummondville, Que., Wednesday, December 5, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. - A Quebec woman charged with killing her three young children has been declared fit to stand trial.

Sonia Blanchette appeared in court on Friday after undergoing a lengthy psychiatric evaluation.

Details of the psychiatric assessment were not revealed in court.

The 33-year-old Blanchette was arrested after two-year-old Anais, four-year-old Loic and five-year-old Lorelie were found dead in her Drummondville residence in early December.

Blanchette faces three counts of first-degree murder and is due to return to court on March 28.

A court decision had limited Blanchette to supervised access to the kids every second Sunday.

In interviews a few days after the children were found dead, former work colleagues described Blanchette as a doting mother who liked to show off photos of her kids on her cellphone.

One of them said she had a positive attitude at work — but often spoke about how deeply she missed seeing her children.

Drummondville is midway between Montreal and Quebec City.