Not criminally responsible: Why Mathew de Grood is unlikely to be convicted of murder despite killing 5

Matthew deGrood has admittedhe stabbed five young people to death at a Calgary house party in 2014 butit isunlikely that the 24-year-oldwill be convicted of murder.

DeGroodpleaded not guilty to first-degree murder as his trial began Monday,despite admitting to killingLawrence Hong, 27, Joshua Hunter, 23,KaitlinPerras, 23,ZackariahRathwell, 21, and JordanSegura, 22,as they celebrated the end of university classes in the early hours of April 15, 2014.

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Murder refers to intention. A person has to have the intention to kill in order to be found guilty of one of the most egregious acts within the Criminal Code.

And in a very small number of cases, an accused person is found to be suffering from such severe mental issuesissues like schizophrenia that while they were committing the illegal act, they could not appreciate what they were doing was morally wrong.

In those rare cases, the accused person is found to be not criminally responsible (NCR).

In Alberta, between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014, 19 people were found to be not criminally responsible. In the next 12 months, another 19 people were deemed NCR.

Compare those numbers to theapproximate60,000 criminal arrests in the province each year, according to statistics from Alberta Justice.

"I think there needs to be a fair amount of explanation as well as a fair amount of reassurance to the public about the all-important issue of risk when an individual is found NCR," said forensic psychologist Patrick Baillie.

"It means that whatever behaviour they engaged in wasn't the sort of willful behaviour we typically associate with a criminal offence."

A psychotic break?

UnderSection 16 (1) of Canada's Criminal Code, a person cannot be found criminally responsible "for an act committed or an omission made while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing it was wrong."

Nationally, about 1 out of 1,000 criminal cases are found to be NCR; Baillie says of those, fewer than 10 per centare for violent offences.

The evidence at de Grood's trial so farspeaks to hismental stateat the time of the killings. Court has heard that hours before the stabbings, hesent ominous messagesand told friendshe thought the end of the world was imminent. De Grood, who had garlic stuffed inside his clothing at the time of his arrest, postedmessages onlinetalking about killing vampires and told people he was an alien,according to an agreed statement of facts.

De Grood's father, a 30-year veteran of the Calgary Police Service, considered swearing a mental health warrant in the days before the killings as he and his wife had become increasingly concerned about their son's apparently deteriorating mental health.

If Justice Eric Macklin decides de Grood is NCR, he will be sent to a psychiatric facility for treatment rather than a prison.

What is not known is whether the Crown prosecutor will pursue a "high risk"NCR designation a change in legislation that took effect in 2014 as part of the federal Conservatives' tough on crime initiative though there is an ongoing legal debate as to whether the designation can be applied retroactively.

"Of course that's a concern," said de Grood's lawyer, Allan Fay. "The Crown has not to this point indicated that they anticipate that application, but of course that's subject to change, so yeah, I am concerned."

Typically, patients are reviewed annually but in the case of the high risk designation, people can go three years between reviews.

"I think it was a solution in search of a problem in that nobody had identified a major error that review boards were making," said Baillie.

"The bottom line is the review boards have traditionally done a very good job of figuring out who should be released and who shouldn't be released."

Alberta's review board panel includes two judgesone each from Edmonton and Calgaryas well as psychiatrists and other community members.

The panel is tasked with evaluating a person's responsiveness to treatment, willingness to accept responsibility, and success of outings into the community.

Once the board feels the risk is low enough that they don't pose a risk to the community, the person is released.

Rates of recidivism for those found to be NCR are much lower than those convicted of a crime. Recent studies putrecidivism rates at seven per cent for violent crimes and four per cent for non-violent crimes.

That's five times less than it is for those convicted and sent to serve jail or prison time.

Here are some of the most notable Canadian NCR cases:

Vincent Li

Inwhat is likelyCanada's most notorious case of NCR,Vincent Li beheadedTim McLeanwhile the two passengers wereriding a Greyhound bus near Portage la Prairie, Man.,in July2008.Li's attack was unprovoked he said he heard voices telling him to kill McLean.In an 2012 interview, Li said he had believed he was chosen by God to save people from an alien attack and later understood the voices he heard as schizophrenia.Li, who changed his name to Will Baker,has lived in ahalfway house in Winnipeg and is looking for more freedom from theManitoba Criminal Code Review Board.

Trevor Kloschinsky

TrevorKloschinskywasfound not criminally responsible in the beating and stranglingdeath of retired RCMP officer RodLazenbyin 2012.Court heard thatKloschinsky, who bred dogs, thought Lazenby, who worked as abylaw officer,was stealing his animals. "He displayed a delusional system that he was being persecuted by a number of agencies and it had been going on for some time," forensic psychiatrist Dr. Sergio Santana testified. "He developed the idea that his victim planned to destroy him financially ... that Lazenby was a corrupt police officer."Kloschinsky wasactively psychotic at the time of the killing.

Guy Turcotte

Former QuebeccardiologistGuy Turcotte admitted to stabbingto deathhischildren, Olivier, 5, andAnne-Sophie, 3, butthe jury in his first trialin 2011returned a verdict of notcriminally responsible after 10 days of deliberations.The sagadrew international headlines and reignited the debate overcriminal responsibility in Canada. Eventually, an Appeal Court ordered a new trial, whereexperts on both sides agreed that hewas suffering fromanadjustment disorderwith symptoms of anxiety and depression.They differed on his state of mind, however, with defence expertssaying Turcotte was obsessed with suicide, mentally ill andincapable of telling right from wrong.Prosecution experts counteredthat he was in control and responsible for the acts. In 2015, ajury convicted him ofsecond-degree murder and Turcottewas sentenced to life in prison.

Allan Schoenborn

Allan Schoenbornwas found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder in the 2008 stabbing and smothering deaths of his childrenKaitlynne, 10, Max, 8, and Cordon, 5, inMerritt, B.C. In the trial, defence lawyers said Schoenborn was not criminally responsible due to mental illness but the Crown argued the killings were an act of revenge against their mother for refusing to renew their relationship.In 2015, Schoenborn wasgranted escorted outingsinto thecommunity, but the Crown is now seeking to have himdesignated a "high-risk accused." Iflabelled high-risk,Schoenbornwould lose privileges including access to escorted day passes. As well, his review hearings would take place once every three years, instead of every year.DaveTeixeira, aspokesman for the children's mother,DarcieClarke,saysthere havebeen48 documented incidents of violence duringSchoeborn'sincarceration, and that information presented at previous reviews indicates he has opted out of all treatment.Schoeborn's high-risk accused hearing began in May 2016 and will resume in June.

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