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By The Canadian Press
Court

Court asked to overturn review board decision involving man found not criminally responsible after five stabbing deaths

Jun 7, 2023 | 6:15 PM

Alberta’s highest court is being asked to overturn a review board decision that confined a man to a supervised Edmonton group home after the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party in 2014.

The lawyer representing Matthew de Grood argued in court Wednesday that the review board’s 2022 decision that he is still a high risk to society was biased.

Jacqueline Petrie has said the bias resulted from comments made by former justice minister Doug Schweitzer in 2019.

She says de Grood has been stable on medication and is at low risk to re-offend and should be allowed to live with his parents while being monitored under a full warrant.

De Grood was found not criminally responsible in 2016 for the killings of Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaitlin Perras, Josh Hunter and Lawrence Hong because of schizophrenia at the time.

De Grood has been living at a supervised group home in Edmonton. His case is reviewed by the Alberta Review Board every year to see whether he can transition back into the community while maintaining public safety.

(The Canadian Press)

by The Canadian Press