Mentally ill man who stabbed 5 people at Calgary party appeals denial of freedoms

Lawyers for a mentally ill man who fatally stabbed five young people at a Calgary house party are appealing a decision to deny him some privileges.

A provincial mental health review board said last month that Matthew de Grood is making progress as a patient at Alberta Hospital Edmonton, but will not be allowed to go into a group home in the next year.

The board also rejected recommendations to allow de Grood travel of up to one week within Alberta and unsupervised passes in Edmonton.

• Calgary mass killer Matthew de Grood not ready for new freedoms, review board decides

Lawyer Allan Fay says it's his opinion that board members fixated on the possibility his client, who has schizophrenia, might stop taking his medication, even though there is no evidence to suggest de Grood would do that.

Fay says de Grood, who is now 29, has been a model patient and done nothing but show improvement.

De Grood was found not criminally responsible for the 2014 killings of Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Kaitlin Perras, Josh Hunter and Lawrence Hong, because he was suffering from delusions at the time.