Matthew de Grood requesting absolute discharge in Wednesday hearing

A mentally ill man who fatally stabbed five people at a Calgary house party in 2014 will have his case heard at the Alberta Court of Appeal Wednesday.

Matthew de Grood, 31, is asking for an absolute discharge.

He was found not criminally responsible in 2016 for the killings of Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaitlin Perras, Josh Hunter and Lawrence Hong – the largest mass killing in Calgary’s history.

De Grood was suffering from schizophrenia at the time and has since undergone treatment.

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An annual Alberta Review Board hearing last October, which assessed his treatment and whether he should be allowed any increased privileges or freedoms over the next year, determined de Grood was still a risk to public safety but should be allowed additional freedoms.

In 2021, de Grood was permitted to transition to a group home but has remained detained in psychiatric care since his most recent review.

He was also permitted to 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.

Family members of the victims have stepped up to speak against any type of appeal or granting of new freedoms throughout the years as the occasions arose.

De Grood’s 2016 trial heard evidence 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.