Alberta Review Board says Matthew de Grood still a risk, but allows some freedoms

The Alberta Review Board says a mentally ill man who fatally stabbed five young people at a Calgary house party remains a significant risk to public safety but will continue to be granted some freedoms as his treatment continues.

Matthew de Grood, 31, was found not criminally responsible for the 2014 killings of Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaitlin Perras, Josh Hunter and Lawrence Hong because he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time.

He appeared at his annual review hearing last month that assessed his treatment and whether he should be allowed any increased privileges or freedoms over the next year.

The board cleared the way a year ago for de Grood to transition to a group home, but in its latest review ordered he remain detained at Alberta Hospital Edmonton or the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre in Calgary.

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It also ruled that he can ask for unsupervised passes to both Calgary and Edmonton as well as supervised visits for up to two weeks to visit his sister in British Columbia.

Any travel to B.C. is at the discretion of his treatment team.

Family members of de Grood’s victims have opposed his release or any new freedoms being granted.

De Grood’s trial heard he attacked the individuals at a party, held to mark the end of the school year, believing the devil was talking to him and a war was about to begin that signalled the end of the world.