EDMONTON — The Alberta Court of Appeal has restored some privileges for a mentally ill man who fatally stabbed five young people at a house party seven years ago.
A provincial mental health review board ruled last September that Matthew de Grood was making progress as a patient at Alberta Hospital Edmonton, but he would not be allowed to go to a group home.
The Appeal Court says the hospital decision was not reasonable, since de Grood’s schizophrenia has been in remission since 2015 and he has had no troubling behaviour.
The move clears the way for de Grood to have overnight passes in Edmonton for up to a week for the purpose of transitioning to a group home.
De Grood was found not criminally responsible for killing Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaitlin Perras, Josh Hunter and Lawrence Hong on April 15, 2014.
A judge ruled that he was delusional at the time and did not understand his actions were wrong.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2021.
The Canadian Press
