Calgary mass killer Matthew de Grood to face annual hearing

CALGARY -

A hearing will be held Wednesday for the man involved in Calgary's worst mass killing.

Matthew de Grood was found not criminally responsible for the 2014 stabbing deaths of five young people in Brentwood.

De Grood was suffering from a mental disorder when he killed Zackariah Rathwell, 21, Jordan Segura, 22, Kaiti Perras, 23, Josh Hunter, 23, and Lawrence Hong, 27, on April 15. A judge ruled he had a psychotic breakdown at the time and did not know his actions were morally wrong.

During the 2020 annual hearing, the board concluded that de Grood remains a significant risk to the safety of the public.

A psychiatrist's report of de Grood, quoted in the 2020 Alberta Review Board Disposition Order, stated that if he reoffends, the victims would include "anyone incorporated into his fear-engendering delusional beliefs."

"The violence is likely to be unexpected, rapid, extreme and with multiple victims," read the report.

However, doctors still recommended the board extend de Grood's privileges.

In April, de Grood appealed the September 2020 board decision and, later that month, his appeal was successful.

The 29-year-old was granted the following privileges:

• Supervised ground privileges;
• Passes for supervised trips within the Edmonton area;
• Participating in staff supervised camping trips, picnics and recreational outings in Alberta;
• Unsupervised ground privileges;
• Unsupervised trips within the Edmonton area; and
• Overnight passes for up to a week (for the purpose of transitioning to a group home).

Pending the results of this year's hearing, de Grood could potentially have more privileges added including:

• Passes of up to three days and two nights within Edmonton under the supervision of a responsible adult;
• Outings within Alberta for up to a week under the supervision of a responsible Alberta (supervision not necessarily required for travel to and from Edmonton); and
• Moving to a group home.