Matthew de Grood’s absolute discharge request denied by Court of Appeal
A mentally-ill man who stabbed five people to death at a Calgary house party in 2014 has had his request for an absolute discharge dismissed by the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Matthew de Grood, 31, was appealing a decision made by the Alberta Review Board in 2022, which concluded he still posed a “significant risk to the public” and was not able to be released on conditions.
He was asking for an absolute or conditional discharge so he could integrate back into society.
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De Grood’s lawyer argued that the review board’s 2022 decision to keep the man in a group home was biased and influenced by Alberta’s former justice minister.
The decision, released Thursday, said his appeal had been unanimously dismissed by the court and that de Grood “failed to argue any reviewable error.”
The court also said it was reasonable for the review board to find de Grood still poses a risk of serious violent behaviour.
De Grood 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.
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He was suffering from schizophrenia at the time and has since undergone treatment.
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In 2021, de Grood was permitted to transition to a group home but has remained detained in psychiatric care since his most recent review.
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 signaled the end of the world.
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.
-With files from The Canadian Press
