The man who was found not criminally responsible for his role in the deaths of five young people at a party in northwest Calgary in April 2014 will soon be relocated to a psychiatric facility in Edmonton as he continues to take steps towards a return to society.

Matthew de Grood was found to be psychotic at the time of the fatal stabbings of Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Josh Hunter, Kaitlin Perras and Lawrence Hong at a home in Brentwood during a gathering celebrating the end of the semester. The assailant, who admitted to the slayings, was 24 years old at the time of the attacks.

In May 2016, de Grood was deemed not criminally responsible on the five counts of first degree murder and was placed in a secure psychiatric facility where he received treatment and his progress was monitored.

On Wednesday, the Alberta Review Board approved the transfer of the now 27-year-old de Grood to the Alberta Hospital Edmonton, a psychiatric facility in the provincial capital.   Any privileges afforded during de Grood’s time in Edmonton, including unsupervised ground passes, supervised passes for trips in the Edmonton area, and a potential move to an approved 24 hour supervised living facility, would be granted at the discretion of the medical staff.

According to Allan Fay, de Grood’s attorney, the de Grood family, including Matthew, are disappointed with the move to Edmonton as the transfer will likely interrupt the ‘enormous role’ his family members have played in his therapy to date. Edmonton was selected as it offers treatments and facilities not currently available in Calgary.    

The Alberta Review Board’s disposition indicated de Grood’s schizophrenia and major depressive disorder had been diagnosed as being in full remission by Dr. Sergio Santana, the head of de Grood’s treatment team.

In April of last year, the board determined de Grood’s depression and schizophrenia were under control and granted him the ability to take supervised walks of the grounds of the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre. At that time, he was still considered to be a significant threat to the public and the families of the victims vehemently opposed the possibility de Grood could be conditionally released from a secure facility at some point in time.

With files from CTV’s Ina Sidhu