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A Calgary judge has found the man accused of stabbing five people to death in Calgary not criminally responsible.
Matthew de Grood was handed the verdict on Wednesday in Calgary by Justice Eric Macklin. The 24-year-old was arrested and charged in 2014 after five people were stabbed to death at a house party to celebrate the end of the school year. Jordan Segura, Kaiti Perras and Josh Hunter were stabbed to death along with Zackariah Rathwell and Lawrence Hong on Apr. 15, 2014.
The victims became known as the Brentwood 5, as the homicides in the Northwest Calgary neighbourhood shocked the entire country. Both crown and defence agreed that de Grood was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the murders. De Grood has admitted to killing the five people.
In court, de Grood’s lawyer Allan Fay read a statement from his client.
“I am truly sorry for what I have done,” Fay said for de Grood.
The Calgary man will be sent to a psychiatric facility and the crown will decide if it will pursue a high-risk designation for de Grood.
The family of the victims has made a short statement following the decision by judge Macklin.
“Our goal at the beginning of the trial was that the spotlight be put on those we lost; that continues to be our goal now and into the future. We ask that everyone remember the names: Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaiti Perras, Lawrence Hong and Josh Hunter. We can all cherish their legacy by reminiscing moments together, living out their values and supporting others through the scholarships and foundations created in their memory. Those are the individuals who should be remembered. Those are the lives that were lost, and no matter what: Kaiti, Jordan, Josh, Zack and Lawrence are still gone and our families will never be whole again.”
The families say that the end of the trial is not the end of the journey for them as they will continue to be broken.
“The finding of NCR will be a recurring nightmare for our families. In this system, Matthew de Grood will meet with a Mental Health Review Board every year to determine if he will be granted concessions. There will be no peace for us; our wounds never fully heal because every year our families will have to wonder, what will be the fate of the man who damaged so many lives.”
Every year the families will be forced to relive the details of the deaths. Their hope is to inform Canadians about the justice system and the designation “Not Criminally Responsible” and its implications.
“A possible reprieve for our families is the designation of a High-Risk NCR, a new law that among other changes would allow a review board to decide to assess an extremely dangerous offender every three years. The five families would support the prosecution in seeking the designation of High-Risk NCR, which would give gravitas to the fact Matthew de Grood killed five people and support the system in ensuring that he is not a threat to the public. Every year that Matthew de Grood is reviewed we hope that our community will value the lives of Josh, Zack, Jordan, Kaiti and Lawrence and do what they can to support the five lives that de Grood ended.”
The families say that no matter what the outcome was, it would not bring back their loved ones.
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