KILLER TO BE MOVED
Environment in city ‘toxic’
Quintuple killer Matthew de Grood is to be transferred to Edmonton where he may be granted supervised visits to the community or placement in a halfway house, the Alberta Review Board has ruled.
In an 11-page ruling, the board determined it would be in the best interest of public safety to have de Grood transferred to Alberta Hospital Edmonton from the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre in Calgary.
The move is in part a result of the “toxic” atmosphere de Grood faces in Calgary, including the anger of the victims’ families and public backlash.
In May 2016, de Grood was found not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder in the April 15, 2014, deaths of five young adults at a house party.
De Grood fatally stabbed Joshua Hunter, Kaitlin Perras, Jordan Segura, Lawrence Hong and Zackariah Rathwell.
The board says that while de Grood “remains a significant threat to the public were he to relapse into a full psychotic state,” doctors can increase his freedoms.
“In the opinion of the board, transferring de Grood to AHE to continue his treatment is the best way of protecting the safety of the public while imposing the least onerous order upon him,” the board said in its ruling.
It said doctors at Alberta Hospital can grant de Grood increased freedom with escorted visits to Edmonton and surrounding communities accompanied by a responsible adult.
At their discretion, doctors can also permit de Grood “residence in 24-hour supervised approved accommodation in the City of Edmonton and area,” the board said.
Following de Grood’s last review hearing in Calgary on Sept. 7, family members of the victims said in a statement that they are urging the review board “to recognize the risk of him being released into society in any capacity is far too great.”
Gregg Perras, father of Kaitlin Perras, said Wednesday he agrees with the board’s decision to move de Grood to Edmonton. However, he said he disagrees “vehemently ” with the board’s decision to go beyond the recommendations of the treatment team.
“The board has taken it on themselves to accelerate his reintegration by their granting of additional privileges such as unsupervised on the grounds and visits to Edmonton with a ‘responsible adult,’ ” he said. Perras called the NCR process a “very flawed system.”
“No one in the process acts for the victims and we as victims were only mentioned once during the hearing,” he said.
The five-member review board, chaired by provincial court Judge Allan Lefever, was critical of some of the information placed before them at de Grood’s last review hearing in Calgary last month.
They noted the head of his treatment team, Dr. Sergio Santana, had met with members of the victims’ families and appeared to take their wishes into account in recommending de Grood’s future handling.
“In response to questions from the board seeking clarification on the recommended privileges, Dr. Santana accepted that in part the recommendations had taken into account the expressed concerns of the victims,” the board said.
“With respect, it appears to the board that this duality creates an almost irreconcilable conflict of interest. Dr. Santana’s duty to his patient is paramount. The recommended conditions and privileges are to be the least onerous, provided that they address the paramount consideration of the safety of the public.
“From the presentations to the board on each of de Grood’s previous hearings as well as this hearing, it is clear that the victims have strong views and feelings about de Grood and what should happen to him.”
In transferring him to Edmonton, the board noted de Grood will face a less “toxic” environment where there is less likelihood of a backlash to his appearance in the community, pointing to the fact a dental clinic in Calgary refused him treatment for fear of bad publicity.
“De Grood’s community reintegration will be better managed in the more benign or less toxic community environment at AHE. He is unlikely to be met with responses similar to that from the dental clinic born out of fear of public backlash.”
De Grood’s lawyer, Allan Fay, said while the family is displeased he has to be moved away from them to further his rehabilitation, he recognizes it’s “being done for the purpose of aiding him in his treatment.”