Matthew de Grood of Calgary is shown in a handout photo from a Calgary 10k race in 2013. Alberta's highest court has dismissed the appeal for a man asking for an absolute release and to be sent home to live with his family in Calgary. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
EDMONTON – Alberta’s highest court has dismissed the appeal of a man found not criminally responsible for killing five people at a house party.
Matthew de Grood, who is currently living in an Edmonton group home, was asking for an absolute or a conditional discharge so he could start to integrate back into society.
He was suffering from undiagnosed and untreated schizophrenia at the time of the stabbings in 2014.
His lawyer argued that the review board’s 2022 decision to keep de Grood in a group home was biased and influenced by Alberta’s former justice minister.
The Alberta Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeal, saying de Grood failed to argue any reviewable error.
The court says it was reasonable for the review board to find de Grood still poses a risk of serious violent behaviour.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2023.
