Freedoms to be incremental for Calgary man who killed 5 while delusional

A psychiatrist treating a mentally-ill man who stabbed and killed five young people at a Calgary house party six years ago says his patient has made progress but any new freedoms will be granted slowly.

Dr. Santoch Rai told the Alberta Review Board that Matthew de Grood has stayed overnight at his parents' home in Edmonton and has taken hospital transportation to scheduled appointments.

But Rai says de Grood has not yet taken public transit or transitioned to a group home.

He says public transit could cause stress for de Grood because of his notoriety.

Rai also says a group home is possible in the next year if de Grood continues his progress.

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 schizophrenia at the time.

Rai says de Grood, who is now 29, still poses a significant risk to reoffend if he stops taking his anti-psychotic medication.

Review board oversees progress

The review board's role is to oversee de Grood's treatment and gauge annually whether he is a threat to public safety, not to punish him.

The board ruled last year that de Grood could be eased back into the community because he had been taking his medication and his schizophrenia was in remission.

The victims' families have vocally opposed all moves that have allowed de Grood back into the community. At his last hearing, they said they continued to suffer as he was gaining more freedoms.

They also objected to government-funded support and treatment de Grood receives while they were receiving nothing to help them with their own trauma.