By Canadian Press

Accused Fredericton shooter found fit to stand trial, asks to be set free

Dec 4, 2018 | 11:32 AM

FREDERICTON — A Fredericton man accused of murdering two police officers and two civilians in an August shooting spree has been found fit to stand trial.

Matthew Raymond is charged with the first-degree murders of Fredericton constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello, and civilians Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright.

“The conclusion is, Mr. Raymond is fit to stand trial,” provincial court Judge Julian Dickson said Tuesday after receiving a report on a psychological assessment of Raymond.

In court, Raymond — dressed in an orange jumpsuit and orange sweatshirt and carrying a file folder full of documents — motioned a number of times that he wished to speak.

He stood and addressed Dickson.

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“My name is Matthew Raymond. I am innocent,” he said, adding that his lawyers had failed to enter a plea of not criminally responsible.

“I should have been in the Supreme Court by the second court proceeding. This is a total violation of my rights. I should be freed immediately, these cuffs removed and these (expletive) ankle bracelets now. My rights have been violated. I should have been in the Supreme Court,” he said.

Dickson has imposed a publication ban on any information or arguments dealing with the application for the psychological assessments.

The case will be back on court Dec. 11, as the lawyers discuss a longer assessment for the question of whether Raymond could be found criminally responsible.

He is alleged to have fired from his apartment window with a long gun, killing the two civilians as they loaded a car for a trip on Aug. 10, and the two police officers as they responded to the scene.

Family members of some of the victims sat quietly in the court Tuesday.

During earlier court appearances, Raymond had said he felt he was not being defended by his first lawyer — Nathan Gorham — and tried numerous times to fire him.

Raymond suggested Gorham was withholding evidence that would allow him to be “exonerated” immediately because of temporary insanity.

Costello, 45, was a 20-year police veteran with four children, while Burns, 43, had been an officer for two years and was married with three children.

Robichaud, 42, had three children and had recently entered into a relationship with 32-year-old Wright when they were killed.

Former friends and acquaintances of Raymond have offered varying memories of the accused murderer, ranging from a boy who retreated into video games, a pleasant supermarket co-worker and an increasingly isolated loner in recent years.

Some business owners have described Raymond, who is in his late 40s, as becoming reclusive and occasionally unpleasant in the year before the alleged shootings.

Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press