Father of Kaiti Perras speaks out against lawyer's appeal in de Grood case

One of the parents of the five young people killed by Matthew de Grood spoke out about the most recent motion by de Grood's lawyers to appeal a decision to keep him incarcerated.

Gregg Perras, the father of Kaiti Perras, who was killed along with four others by de Grood at a Calgary house party celebrating the end of the school year in 2014, said he was "saddened, angry and disheartened" that the decision of the Alberta Review Board (ARB) was being appealed.

"Once again the judicial system, which failed our five families back in 2016, is being called upon to make a judicial decision in a case that was shifted to the mental health system," Perras wrote, in an email to CTV News.

On April 15, 2014, de Grood killed 23-year-old Kaiti Perras, 21-year-old Zackariah Rathwell, 22-year-old Jordan Segura, 23-year-old Josh Hunter and 27-year-old Lawrence Hong. He was found not criminally responsible.

The most recent appeal came Tuesday, Oct. 25, after the ARB ruled that de Grood "must remain detained at Alberta Hospital Edmonton or the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre in Calgary, despite a decision a year ago that he was to transition to a group home," according to a Canadian Press story by Bill Graveland.

In the appeal, the lawyer asked the court to set aside the review board's order and substitute it with an absolute or conditional discharge, arguing that it was unreasonable due to "procedural unfairness" and "a reasonable apprehension of bias" on the part of the chair.

"The Review Board ignored and/or misapprehended key evidence, and made findings absent supporting evidence, when it concluded the appellant is currently a significant threat to public safety," reads the notice signed by lawyer Jacqueline Petrie.

Kaiti Perras, one of the victims killed by Matthew de Grood April 15, 2014 at a Calgary house party

Perras said this characterization of de Grood's incarceration needed some clarification.

"The ARB has not detained de Grood in hospital with their latest decision," Perras said. "He has been living in an approved, 24-hour supervised group home since early 2022 and under the current disposition that would be maintained.

"The ARB has ruled to keep him under full warrant at this time, which his medical treatment team is also recommending," he added. "His medical team testified that it is extremely early in his reintegration into society and he should be observed very closely for some time."

Perras also expressed concern about the request that de Grood be released "conditionally."

Greg Perras. father of Kaiti, who was killed by Matthew de Grood in 2014

"The full warrant recommended would allow his treatment team the legal right to pull de Grood back into hospital should his current mental state devolve," he said.

"If he was to be released conditionally, his medical team suggested during testimony that he could only be returned to hospital with his consent. And they have testified on numerous occasions over the last several years that de Grood, in hospital, has lost insight into his illness when some of his symptoms resurfaced."

Perras said the medical team have already witnessed several incidents where de Grood's symptoms returned, and that an unconditional release would present a threat to public safety.

De Grood can presently ask for unsupervised passes to Calgary and Edmonton, in addition to supervised visits to his sister in B.C.

"Public safety is paramount under the Not Criminally Responsible laws," Perras wrote. "I believe that the greater public would be extremely concerned to hear that de Grood and his new lawyer are now refuting the two previous episodes of symptoms he presented in the last three years, while in the highly monitored and controlled environment of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.

"On both occasions, while transitioning off his oral medication to only injectable medication, he presented symptoms of his schizophrenia, as described by his own medical team. These same symptoms, along with several others were present right before he killed our five children."

On April 15, 2014, de Grood killed 23-year-old Kaiti Perras, 21-year-old Zackariah Rathwell, 22-year-old Jordan Segura, 23-year-old Josh Hunter and 27-year-old Lawrence Hong. He was found not criminally responsible.

With files from The Canadian Press